Realized Fantasies

As with all TNT releases done in the late 80s and early 90s, this album is full of sticky sweet melodies, Ronni Le Tekro's machine gun guitar techniques, and of course the highlight and shining star of the band, Tony Harnell with his angelic vocals straight from heaven. TNT is best known for seamlessly blending hard rock tunes with these pop flavored melodies that just drip with catchy hooks. Le Tekro's highly acclaimed machine gun technique is one of the things that make the band stand out from the rest, but just as much of a trademark as that, is Harnell's voice. He has an instantly recognizable voice that tackles all sorts of vocal twists and turns with the greatest of ease, and perfectly smoothly. Alot of people were turned off by this release, because it was a slight departure from their previous disc, the wonderful, "Intuition", which brimmed with melodic goodness, in a slick cross between pop hard rock giants, Foriegner, Journey, and Triumph but with a slightly harder edge. "Realized Fantasies" takes this harder edge and whips up large doses of heavier songs, tinted with shades of the blues, but retaining those catchy melodies the band crafts so well.

Highlights from the album include the raunchy "Hard To Say Goodbye", with Harnell switching between a rapid fire and silky smooth vocal styles. The guitar is uniquely quirkly, zipping along with fast paced riffs. But the real standout of this track is the super catchy rhythm they have polished up so well that it flows within this hard rocking tune. It reminds me of Babylon A.D.'s "Bang Go the Bells" at times. "Mother Warned Me" has slightly distorted vocals to start out the track, but the rest of it flows into a hard rocking tune that is a mirror of songs done at the time, with a Firehouse-like feel. "Lionheart" is a dramatic ballad song, with Harnell's luscious vocals soaring like the angels all over this track. Every ounce of emotion is squeezed out and dripped over this gorgeously depressing song in pure TNT tradition. Le Tekro's gentle guitarwork has a whisper of regretful bite to it, and gives this song its extra dimension. The closing track, "Indian Summer" is a whirlwind of a hard rockin tune. Gigantic chorus of "whoaaaohhh" that is then traded for Harnell's voice, stamps a unique feeling all over this one, along with its unforgettabley bouncy overall sound. A great track to close out the album. Another favorite is "Easy Street". Never have I heard a song that even is remotely similiar to this track. This one just feels so good to listen to it should be sinful, with a slinkly rhythm so strong it sounds like it was made to dance to or sing right along with. Unusual piano/keyboard work that takes me back to the bar piano music played on all those old western movies. Yeah you know what I'm talking about. Also of note are the cleverly cutesy lyrics. "Rain" is often mentioned as being a favorite from this album, and I can see why with its instantly grabbing chorus that screams to be noticed, literally. More toe tapping hard rock, this time just a bit smoother than the other tracks. Great guitar solo that just roars right out of the middle of this great tune. I also can't write a review on this album without mentioning "Rock N Roll Away", that has another great chorus, and some hard riffs that remind me of some of the work in Malmsteen's "Bedroom Eyes" of all things.