Blood Good News: Our Post-Epidemic Reality

The music industry is shutting down all around us, as is most of the world, it seems. The viral pandemic spreading around has redefined what life means, and how we are going to exist moving forward. There are far larger questions to answer, but we're here to talk about the music industry. Just in that little slice of the world, the disruption is immense, and possibly irreparable.

Virtually every live performance between now and the summer has already been cancelled, and it's only a matter of time until the rest follow suit. In the blink of an eye, the touring industry went from a monolithic entity that was subsidizing the entire existence of music as a commercial art form to one that no longer exists. The bands we love are now essentially out of work, save for the pennies that all but the largest bands get out of streaming.

The scariest part is there is no end in sight. Every day, festivals and shows further into the future are getting called off, and no one can tell us when to expect life to begin going back to something resembling normal. Maybe we'll be able to get back to seeing bands on the road by the summer. Maybe we won't. Maybe this situation will carry on through the rest of the year, and we will become so inured by our new reality that the industry never recovers.

Think about that. There is a very real possibility that we are essentially quarantined away from large groups of people for months, maybe years. If that happens, live music will be the least of our worries, but I can easily see a future in which we never go back to where we are. As part of preventative measures, we are never again allowed to cram ourselves shoulder-to-shoulder into sweaty bars, or arenas with the populations of medium-sized cities. It might have never been a good idea for that kind of human density to have been allowed, but thinking about it in the future almost feels foolish already. Yes, we might get past this moment in time, but we might not. And even if we do, who is going to want to run the risk of it happening again?

Music will go on, because it always does, but it won't be the same as it was. It can't be.

Bands will eventually head back on the road, but audiences will be smaller. Fewer people will want to crowd together, both out of fear, and due to our new learned experience. With less people, either prices for tickets will make the shows exclusively for those at the top of the income ladder, or bands will simply be making even less money than they already do. I fail to see any way things will return to the level they were at, let alone grow.

And we can't go back to the days of making money off physical sales, either. Streaming is the reality we live with, but the physical sales that do exist are now imperiled. To prioritize the household goods needed, and being hoarded right now, even Amazon is temporarily ceasing shipments of CDs and vinyl into their warehouses. How long will we be deprived of even the opportunity to buy albums before we grow so used to that we stop altogether? Downloading was the first disruption, streaming the second, and this perhaps the final blow.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know tomorrow will look different than today. I don't know if there will still be a steady stream of albums to talk about over the new few months, nor do I know when things will settle into a new normal. All I know is the world has changed dramatically, and faster than we could have ever imagined. It won't be for good, or for our good, but we have to deal with it. I'll let you know if I figure out how.

Album Review: Lucifer - Lucifer III

When we last heard from Lucifer, they were leaving quite a good impression. After the breakup of The Oath, Johanna Sadonis formed a new band, and they put out a record that was still rather doom-and-gloom, and not exactly living up to the potential her talent displayed. The lineup shift leading into their second album made all the difference, as a bit more life was put into the music, and they were writing songs that were still gritty and authentic, but also far more enjoyable to sit down with. They were finding the right balance to their sound, and while I really liked that record, I still had the impression they could grow into something even more impressive.

That brings us to records number three, where that feeling is put to the test. With a solid foundation to build upon, Lucifer is able to focus on letting the songs develop into their best form. The opening "Ghosts" picks up where the previous album left off, with stoner guitar tones that build up to a desert bonfire sing-along of a chorus. Just that alone would be enough for the song, but then it drops into a bridge with a hint of piano anchoring the bass, and the twist shows Lucifer isn't just about giving us the simple ditties. There's meat on those bones.

"Midnight Phantom" is interesting for how it blends doom and almost sunny 60s rock. The riffs and the verses would be pure doom if the guitars had a thicker tone, but then the chorus hits and Johanna brings the sun back over the horizon. There are a lot of bands that play either gritty or occult rock that sounds pulled from the past, but most of them aren't able to infuse their songs with catchy melodies. That's the genius of what this version of Lucifer does. This record is still fuzzy, dirty, and anything but mainstream, but the songs have that kind of appeal.

If there's such a thing as 'laid-back doom', that's what Lucifer has created. Their sound is rather unique in being able to straddle the line between bright and dark, soothing and off-putting. They are sort of like painting a gargoyle with pastels. I know how that sounds, but I mean it as a compliment.

Now comes the hard(er) part; Lucifer hasn't really taken the step forward I was hoping for. "Lucifer III" is a fine continuation of "Lucifer II", and does the same good things as that record did. It just doesn't do anything better than the previous record. I was hoping not for something new, but for a few songs that pumped everything up even further, and were their best work. I don't think we've gotten that, but that doesn't mean the album isn't really good, because it is. I was very fond of "Lucifer II" and this record is every bit as good.

Lucifer fills a niche, and no one else is quite like them. Like someone else who was making numbered albums a long time ago, Lucifer's second and third albums are part of a larger thread of blues, doom, and rock that I'm not sure we'll entirely see for another album or two. In the meantime, "Lucifer III" still rocks.

EP Review: Dilana - Animal

At it's best, art speaks the truth in ways that we can't achieve by talking alone. Whether it's an image you can't stop seeing when you close your eyes, or a melody that means you can't get the words out of your head, art allows us to absorb a message we might not be willing to sit down and listen to otherwise. It's true that a lot of music doesn't try to say anything beyond platitudes, but we're talking about art here. Not every musician is an artist, not in the way that makes their music important, not in the way that gives their music weight. There is fluffy pop music, and there is art filled with earworms.

Dilana is an artist. When we last heard from her, on "Beautiful Monster", she was writing painfully honest songs about her life that spoke to the core of the human experience. At least for me, it was deeply important music.

With the new songs on this EP, Dilana is taking on the world. Several of these songs are issue-oriented, trying to shine a light on stories we don't necessarily want to hear, but need to. "Kids Must Play" addresses the state of the world, and the impact it is having on the next generations. They can see and feel society crumbling around them, and the fear that brings up robs them of their childhood. Mass shooting drills are more terrifying than we know, and current gun policies are doing nothing to stop the flow of violence that has numbed us to high body counts. The heavy guitar groove and the siren effects echo the adrenaline flowing as calls for help cry out the next inevitable time a shooting happens. "Who's going to save the kids?" Dilana asks repeatedly. There is no answer, but we can't find one without asking the question.

"Animal" takes on the exploitation of nature, with dramatic strings and Dilana's booming voice taking the world's leaders to task for not recognizing and protecting the beauty of our animal brethren. It is a plea to our humanity to do better, to put aside how easy cruelty can be in favor of a more compassionate reality. "Da Big Man" uses its stomping marching beat to throw us into a world of false patriotism where we listen to and accept anything that is said by the people who are supposedly on 'our side'. Loyalty has become blind, truth has become multiple choice, and power has become everything.

These songs stem from the autobiographical update that comes in the form of "Oh Jericho", a song about life, longing, and how no love can measure up to motherhood. It's that fierce love that forces Dilana to confront the world's problems, because she can't bear to leave them to fester until it's her child's responsibility to fix them. Her focus is singular, and wanting a better future includes changing her music to do what she can to make it happen. So instead of another album of bleeding her soul, we get this more eclectic collection trying to show the scars on society. That's why it makes sense for these songs to throw everything from slide guitar to world beats, from crooning vocals to rapping, into the mix. Speaking to everyone means speaking every language (metaphorically). Dilana tries to do that here, just like she did with her single "Behind Closed Doors" before, and it's nice to have a reminder that music can make a difference on more than a personal level.

And as a treat, we also get a cover of Audioslave's "Like A Stone", which can be interpreted two ways. We can take it on face value as a tribute to a great song, being sung by one of the few people with the power and tone to pull it off. It's a rousing enough success that way, but I think there's something more to it. Fitting the theme of this EP, we can also take it as a reminder that mental health struggles are real, they are severe, and far too many of us are impacted by the ripple-effects of suicide. It's a hard song to listen to, but even more beautiful, when you think about it that way. And that vocal.... dear God.

Yes, this is a very different Dilana than we might be used to, but as time has progressed, she has grown. She is now not just speaking about herself and to each one of us individually, but about everyone and to all of us. As much as sharing your soul is brave, so too is speaking up for what you believe is right.

Album Review: David Reece - Cacophony Of Souls

We often use the word 'journeyman' when we don't know what else to call someone who has been around for a long time, been a part of many bands, but hasn't really accomplished a whole lot. It isn't exactly a pejorative, but it serves that same purpose, merely with a softer touch. David Reece is a journeyman, and there's nothing wrong with that. He's been around, he's been on plenty of records, but I doubt there are many other than the die-hards who would know of him. Being in Bonfire isn't exactly setting the world on fire, nor is being the least prominent singer Accept has had. Maybe putting out something under his own name can change that....

I wouldn't count on it, since the most prominent thing said to promote the record is that it features a song written as the theme for a YouTube channel that talks about this kind of music. Reece isn't exactly aiming for the stars here.

The album is very by-the-books traditional heavy metal, too much so, really. Over the twelve tracks, Reece and his band hit on most of the cliches of the style, putting out the sort of record we've all heard a thousand times before. That alone isn't a criticism, but if you're going to do something so standard, it has to be pulled off nearly flawlessly. It doesn't matter how rote something is if the songwriting is expert. Reece can't make that claim on this record.

We get the stomping rhythms of Accept, and some late-era Iron Maiden riffs to open "Collective Anesthesia", but that's not enough. A few guitar parts don't make songs all on their own, and for being an album emblazoned with the name of a singer, Reece doesn't have great melodies to sing. And given how the record is produced, he isn't even pushed out in front enough to be the focus of the music. It's an odd decision to not highlight the man whose name is on the front cover. Maybe they realized Reece's contributions weren't strong enough to rely on. Even when he does come up with a solid chorus, as he does on the title track, the verse getting there is performed with incredibly awkward, faux-Gothic talk-singing that is completely out of place here. It sounds awful.

As for that theme song the album is (literally) centered around; it's the most energetic track on the album, so I'll give it that. But I'm sorry, I can't get even one iota excited about lyrics telling me to "raise your metal voice". The single lamest thing metal has ever done is constantly brag about how metal metal is. I keep resorting to the same advice; if you have to say it, it probably isn't true. I can't even call it humble-bragging, since there's nothing humble about puffing your chest out and telling people what a big man you are. It's over-compensating, and reducing people to the music they listen to, or at least a narrow band of it. That's not exactly an enlightened, empowered view.

So no, David Reece's album is not the 'masterpiece' the press release says it is. It's an album of perfectly acceptable classic heavy metal, with nothing the least bit special about it. Plenty of people want nothing more than comfort food music, and if you're a self-professed metal person looking for that, you'll like this a lot more than I did. I found myself once again asking more existential questions, like why I keep listening to a genre that has no interest in bringing people like me into the fold. Those questions are much more interesting to me than listening to this album.

Album Review: The Unity - Pride

Power metal is a fickle thing for me. Despite being the genre that got me into metal, I got my fill of it long ago, and the cliches of the sound no longer thrill me. If a band isn't bringing excellent songwriting to the party, I'm not going to be in any mood to celebrate. The Unity's first album fit that bill, a perfectly solid record that was rather standard, and in turn didn't move me. But then I gave their second record a chance, and it upped the bar in every way. "Rise" was an album that had rousing melodies and songs that stuck the landing. It took any expectations I had for The Unity, and turned them on their head. That record was great, and made me curious to see if and how they could follow it up.

"Hands Of Time" kicks things off, and immediately I'm struck by a thought I didn't think I would have; The Unity sounds like a pumped-up version of Revolution Saints. Gianbattista Manenti's voice has the same smooth-tinged roughness that Deen Castronovo does, but the songs he's got to sing are bigger, and less rote than the standard melodic rock that other band has given us. The Unity's song is rocking and metallic, with a chorus meant to sing along to. It fits right in with what I loved about the last record.

As more songs unfold, I feel like it's unfair to call The Unity a power metal band, because they aren't filling their songs with relentless double-bass drumming and ear-piercing vocals. There are elements of power metal in some of the guitar work, but they are as much a melodic hard rock band as they are power metal. It's a blend that allows them to sound heavy and powerful, but also richly melodic and memorable. In fact, it's when they do veer more towards the metal side on "Angel Of Dawn" that the record loses a bit of steam. The stomping rhythm of the song is heavy, but the chorus doesn't have the same sheen and melody that makes the rest of the songs so appealing.

There is a nice amount of diversity to the record. We get the opening songs that are pure melodic rock, the aforementioned metal stomper, then "Damn Nation" is the most traditionally power metal song, and "Wave Of Fear" has some mid-90s post-grunge to the melodies and the way the vocals blend together. A lot of The Unity's contemporaries essentially write the same song countless times over, and that is surely not the case with this record. There's a little bit of something for everyone.

With this album, The Unity have once again shown themselves to be a band capable of writing some great melodic metal. Is it as good a record as "Rise"? Honestly, I don't think it is. There was something special about that record I don't hear in this one, but not many bands are able to have that happen more than once. "Pride" may not be their career-defining masterpiece, but it's a really good melodic metal album. There's nothing wrong with that.

Album Review: The Bombpops - Death In Venice Beach

Years ago, Morrissey sang, "to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die". That was in the song "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", which was a sunny sounding pop gem that just so happened to be an utterly miserable song in disguise. It also happened to come about before the world knew what an insufferable clod Morrissey turned out to be, but that's beside the point. Music often dresses up sadness, pain, and depression in songs that sound as happy as all get-out. It's one of my favorite tricks, not just because the sound is so appealing, but sneaking something meaningful into the listener's ears when they don't realize it is one of the pleasures of being an artist.

With this new album, that's what The Bombpops are doing. This record is a bright, catchy batch of punk and pop thrown together, but it's also an album that deals with alcoholism, and a host of other darker issues. So what you see isn't what you get.

The band throws us into the deep end, with "Dearly Departed" diving into issues of mortality, listing off famous couples that met untimely ends, and declaring "unhappily ever after". Thankfully, they aren't referring to the horrible WB sitcom that ripped off "Married With Children", only with a talking puppet. "Double Arrows Down" talks of being passed out on a gas station floor with a needle in your arm, but it's done with such a cheery attitude that you almost forget that they're painting with their own blood. The combination of Jen Razavi and Poli Van Dam toss off bouncy pop hooks like they're nothing, giving us songs catchier than nearly anything pop-punk has done in many years, but without sounding like they're trying.

Is it in poor taste to compare a relationship to the fire that ravaged Notre Dame? It could certainly be considered to be, but it's also a very punk thing to do, so it reinforces their credentials whether you like the metaphor or not. It was a gutsy call to make that song the lead single for the album, but it worked, since it was hearing it that made me think I needed to hear this album. If the prior songs were already catchy, "Notre Dame" is infectious. I won't try to be so punk as to compare it to the current viral scare.

There's an effortless charm to The Bombpops, which in part comes from Jen and Poli not being your typical punk singers. Their voices aren't trying to sound edge, or angry, or anything other than what they are. Their delivery is, and I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, prettier than might be expected of punk. Frankly, making the music more accessible to a wider range of listeners and emotions is a big selling point. When "13 Stories Down" talks about not being an alcoholic, but playing one on the weekend, being able to hear the words from a voice that is more stereotypically sober sounding gives the song a completely different feeling than if it was a more debauched delivery.

So is "Death In Venice Beach" a pleasure, a privilege? It's half an hour of a sugar rush with a kick that stays in the back of your throat. These songs are fun, sly, and really good.

Bloody Good News: Journey's Infighting & Bob Rock's Honesty

Our Top Story: Journey is the latest band to find themselves embroiled in bitter legal battles, as the anonymous rhythm section of the band has tried to stage a coup. They convinced the board of the company set up to deal with Journey's business to put them in charge, thinking that would give them the rights to the band's name, which they could then leverage back to Neal Schon in exchange for guaranteed money for doing nothing. They were mistaken, as according to Schon, the Journey name is subject to a separate legal agreement that gives him and Jonathan Cain the sole and exclusive right to perform under the name.

This is merely another in a long line of bands that are going to court to fight over the money generated by a brand. As the money in music becomes even harder to earn, and a still growing majority of it comes from playing live, musicians will do everything they can to ensure they get as much of that money as possible. In this case, two members of Journey that practically no one gives a damn about thought some clever lawyering would net them income they didn't deserve, because bands are businesses. We saw something similar happen not long ago when Alexi Laiho lost control of the Children Of Bodom name, though the next steps in that case have yet to shake out.

Much of this comes back on us. The brand-name bands wouldn't be subject to as many of these kinds of challenges if we, the fans, held them accountable. For nearly any band that has undergone changes over the years, there's a huge section of the fan base that has no idea who is still in the band, so obviously they don't care who is standing on stage when they buy their ticket. Foreigner continues to sell tickets despite having none of them members who made the music they are playing. KISS is getting ready to try doing the same thing. If we were more knowledgeable, and we refused to see a Journey that featured two nobodies as the only real members, they would have had no perceived angle to undertake this shady business. They still deserve plenty of blame for trying to steal someone else's life's work, but we aren't without blame.

In Other News: Bob Rock said in a recent interview that the sound of Metallica's "And Justic For All" made no sense to him. While Rock gets plenty of (unfair) criticism for being the man who ruined Metallica, he is absolutely right about this. "Justice" sounds absolutely horrible, and has from the day it was released. If it was any other band but Metallica, we never would have put up with having to reflexively praise such a horrible recording. I feel the same way about "Kill Em All", but that's a separate issue.

What interests me about this story is the reminder that so many albums from bands that are big enough to know/do better are sorely lacking in many respects. "Justice" is but one example of that, even from Metallica. I mentioned "Kill Em All" already, which sounds like a rough demo more than a professional album, but they also put out "St Anger" and "Death Magnetic", which both sound utterly horrible on objective analysis. The fact that they continue to defend their mistakes, rather than admit them, is also infuriating.

It goes beyond them. Pantera is given credit for saving metal in the 90s, but Dimebag's guitar tone is one of the worst that has ever been put on a major-label record. I won't blame his use of solid-state amps over the more traditional tube varieties, but his buzzing mess of a tone was painful to listen to when you compared it to what was possible.

And as technology makes it easier, faster, and cheaper than ever to make a professional sounding record, the quality we are given is actually getting worse. Baroness is the biggest offender in recent memory, with their last two records so distorted they are unlistenable. If you want to know if an outlet you read/listen to is honest or not, see what they said about Baroness' "Purple" or "Gold & Grey". If they didn't mention that the records sound worse than demos from the days of 8-track tapes, they aren't shooting straight. There is no excuse for distorted recordings, and there is no excuse for not calling out bands when they deliver sub-standard products.

So did Bob Rock ruin Metallica? Given what they have done when left to their own devices, of course he didn't. Whatever you think of "Load" and "Reload", their success prevented us from having more "Lulu" like projects for a decade. That deserves our thanks.

Album Review: Stitched Up Heart - Darkness

We talk often about bands that are doing interesting things with their music, but not so much about bands that are doing interesting things with their music. The world we live in now is not one where every album follows the same path or marketing, promotion, and release. There are a lot of ways of getting your music to the fans, and we get an interesting example of that from Stitched Up Heard with this release, which has been in the making for half a year.

The band has been releasing singles, roughly one per month, for that long, with the vast majority of the record already listened to be many of us before we get to this release date. That makes for an interesting experience, hearing a record taking shape slowly, being intimately familiar with the music when sitting down for the first time to hear the record as a whole. I can't answer the question of whether it was an effective strategy from a marketing perspective, but I can give my own take as a fan. We'll get to that at the end.

But let's talk about the music. Stitched Up Heart is giving us a record that is modern rock, but also a diverse ride through many of the things that phrase entails. The record kicks off with "Lost", which I really liked as a single, and which works beautifully as an opener. The riff is huge, the sound is heavy and modern, and the hook is pure ear candy. It's excellent modern rock with the perfect blend of heaviness and melody.

That describes the majority of the record. If you think of New Year's Day's album from last year, you'll have a pretty good idea of what Stitched Up Heart is doing. They aren't pushing things as aggressively, which makes this record easier to digest and enjoy. Mixi's the star of the show, with her passionate vocals driving the strong hooks, and a tone that plays well against the guitars. Her voice is beautiful without losing its power, which isn't all that easy to achieve.

"Problems" is the catchiest song of the bunch, with a groove-heavy riff, some skittering effects on the vocals, and a chorus that could be a modern pop hit. It's them taking the Billie Eilish formula, and turning it into heavy rock instead. I didn't hear the song that way when it was first released, but in time I started to see it differently, and now it fits into the album in a way I wasn't expecting. There are a few of those effects and production tricks scattered through the record, which ground everything in the here and now, which you can interpret how you want.

The biggest detour is "Crooked Halo", which leaves rock behind for an approach that is almost entirely pop, the dark and quiet kind of modern pop, to be precise. It's my least favorite song on the album, which is otherwise stacked with track after track delivering hooks the crowds will be singing back from the pit on tour, but it does serve as a pivot point where the album can take a breather and keep our ears fresh.

It feels like I've been waiting forever for this album to arrive, and yes, it was worth it. Stitched Up Heart have given us a fun, vibrant rock record that has both broad and deep appeal. I think it's as good a record as the mainstream rock scene is going to see this year, but I have to address the elephant in the room. By releasing so many songs over such a long time before the album dropped, there's less excitement in hearing the record as an entirety. It wouldn't have been better if I heard every song fresh at the same time, but it was a bit odd hearing an album I already knew so much about.

If you haven't been following the singles, then you're in for a treat. "Darkness" is this year's "Breath In Colors" (from Forever Still); the album that makes modern rock sound beautiful, emotional, and really damn good.

Album Review: Silverstein - A Beautiful Place To Drown

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, which is essentially a way of saying everyone tends to get stuck in a rut at a certain point, and anything new is merely the sunlight beating down on us while we're down in our hole. There is some truth in that, but not always. As a music listener, I do tend to stick in my own box, but there are always new wrinkles to explore, and new paths to explore. Last year, I did that with Dream State, who were the first band associated with post-hardcore I found myself enjoying. And it's in that spirit I now take up this new Silverstein album, a band I haven't had the opportunity to listen to before.

It was by happenstance I came across the singles for this record, "Infinite" and "Bad Habit", which both struck me similarly to that experience I had last year. Silverstein is a fusion of punk, pop, emo, and perhaps even a bit of post-hardcore, which is not a sound you would expect me to gravitate towards. And yet, those songs had a wonderful blend of aggression and melody I couldn't deny. And so, here we are talking about the full record.

I know this comparison isn't particularly apt, but this record seems to me to be a better interpretation of what we heard Blink-182 trying to do on their most recent album. They are taking the power of punk, but tilted in a more mature direction. Whereas Blink didn't have the ability to pull that off without resorting to some wise-ass trolling, Silverstein throws in the occasional harsh vocal and breakdown to emphasize the depths they are pulling these songs from. Doing that while still keeping the songs energetic and catchy is a nice feather in their caps.

"Infinite" still stands out as the song you need to hear, because the slightly slower pace heightens the drama, and makes the harsh vocals stand out from the band's fury. It's exactly what you would expect from a band celebrating their twentieth anniversary; a song that knows how to put the band's pieces together for maximum impact. "Shape Shift" follows in similar fashion, and as much fun as the more up-tempo numbers are, it's when they throw more of their emo influences into the mix that the album hits its greatest strengths. That more emotional delivery has teeth to it, and it really gives us something to latch onto.

I also find the AFI vibe on "September 14th" a welcome surprise, and not just because of how far that band has fallen in recent times. It's a throwback to a moment in time I can remember, and hadn't thought much about recently. It's funny how something so simple can take us back like that.

Silverstein might be a bit outside my normal listening, but it's worth it to take risks now and again. "A Beautiful Place To Drown" is an album with a lot going for it, for several different audiences. We don't always get a lot of examples of how teenage music can grow, evolve, and mature as we get older. That's what this record is. The roots are obvious, but the branches have reached far above the soil, trying to grab the heavens. Silverstein have bridged the past and the present, and it's something quite lovely to hear. I'm glad I found myself taking this path.

Album Review: Harem Scarem - Change The World

It's not too often a band that's been around for decades blows you away, or makes their best record. Usually, whether they've run through their best ideas, or we're just tired of hearing their particular sound, the back half of an artist's career doesn't leave the same impact. It does happen, though, such as how I'm the one person out there who says with no hesitation that "Peachtree Road" and "The Captain & The Kid" are Elton John's best records. I seem to be alone out on that limb. It happened a couple of years ago with Harem Scarem, who released "United", which was a masterclass in melodic rock, nearly the album of the year, and quite possibly the best album of its kind in recent memory.

That means the expectations for this follow-up are sky high. It's probably unfair, but since the bar was set by them, it's what we're going to work with.

I'll spare us all the drama. Is this record better than "United"? In a word, no. However, not being better than the best doesn't mean you aren't still great. And this record is still truly great melodic rock.

Harem Scarem have great vocals and great songs, full of big melodies and immediate hooks. Melodic rock has never been a popular subset of the genre, but with songs like this, I'm not entirely sure why. This sound is engaging, welcoming, and charming. It's like arena rock, if you dial down all of the phallic bravado that populated the worst of those bands. Maybe it's a problem that Harem Scarem are making music for adults, rather than teenagers and frat bros, but that's why it's great. They aren't pandering for popularity, they're making music for people who want to hear good songwriting instead of angst and gimmickry.

Harry Hess has a perfect voice for the style, comfortably melodic with just a hint of grit to keep everything from getting too polished. He delivers hook after hook with the confidence of knowing his band is firing on all cylinders. There's a lot of melodic rock being made, but not much of it is this good, and not much of it has its own identity. Harem Scarem doesn't sound like the conveyor belt bands that take their songs from the communal pile. This is clearly a Harem Scarem record, and that goes a long way to making it just that much more enjoyable.

Comparing the two records, "Change The World" is a bit softer, with guitar playing that pulls back a bit from the fiery licks that "United" featured. Relaxed is a word I often thought of listening through these songs. The band has already proven themselves, so they aren't trying to stretch any boundaries or sharpen any axes. That's just fine, but it does mean this record has a touch less spark and bite to it.

But that's not a criticism, merely an observation. Making the exact same record again and again gets redundant, so having a slightly different tone lets this record stand out as its own entity. This isn't "United" part two, no matter how good that idea might sound. "Change The World" isn't trying to be that, which I consider a good thing, because as I said before, measuring up to that bar was always going to be impossible. While I would still point you to the previous record first, "Change The World" is melodic rock at its finest, and a hell of a follow-up.