BURNING RAIN - PLEASURE TO BURN

Burning Rain are ex Hurricane, Lion and Bad Moon Rising guitarist Doug Aldrich's latest band, completed by the vocals of Keith St John [ex Medicine Wheel] and the rhythm section of Ian Mayo [bass] and Alex Makarovich [drums] the band have managed to make the 80's hard rock/metal shape up rather nicely for the 21st century! Sure the sounds on offer are nothing new but they are a very good blend of quality acts from the 80's [see Dokken, Whitesnake, AC/DC]. Those nice people at Z Records had the good sense to make both Burning Rain albums available minus the stupid import price tags and we can only thank them. 'Pleasure To Burn' is a pounding, melodic, sometimes sleazy, others heartfelt album of Hard Rock played like you rarely hear anymore. The production is crisp [if a little raw] and sounds live, Aldrich and St John are the stars but the rhythm section is tight to help add some more power to the sound.

1. Fireball [4.04]
Up tempo rocker with typical stop start verse [ya know vocals then followed by riff] - quite Led Zep [but updated] and earlyish Whitesnake, the chorus is pretty simple but catchy and vocals from Keith St John are gritty but occasionally a little screamy. Simple solo but sold enough, the outro riff reminds me of one from Aerosmith's 'Jailbait' but that's a good thing.

2. Love Emotion [3.36]
Classic LA Mötley Crüe style riff, but powerful and grooves well. Again typical verse stuff but Aldrich's tone is full and powerful. The chorus is quite sublime - this would be a BIG 80's hit.....Aldrich throws in some cool fills [ala EVH] during breaks and overall the song is one of the strongest on offer, it also reminds me quite a bit of the material on the Lynch Mob debut with that hard rocking sun bleached sound.

3. Stone Cold N Crazy [5.22]
Oddball guitar sounds over a dark bassline before power chords come crashing in. The track soon picks up pace for a quite romping riff that has a little of a gallop to it but sounds more like Guns N Roses [Locomotive being a good example] than Iron Maiden and its certainly my cup of tea [as we Brits say]. The verse seems to fuse Whitesnake with Lynch Mob and oozes class. The chorus is standard fare but as you don't hear this kind of thing much anymore so it sounds surprisingly fresh. Highlight.

4. Cherie Don't Break My Heart [5.17]
Super naff title but a great ballad, fuses Dokken's mellower moments with Journey mixed with Coverdales smokey vocals [Keith St John has a good variety of vocal tones]. Very LA sounding chorus but as before very high quality.

5. Shot Down [3.37]
Pounding riff rocker telling a tale of a wild west gunslinger. Again a simple riff powers the track along and whilst Aldrich throws in a few fills its all relatively live sounding. The chorus is again good, but the bridge sits a little uneasy to me. The solo makes up for this with Aldrich's burning vibrato and chops which fuse Jake E Lee with George Lynch, his solo tone is similar to John Norum's [e.g. THICK Strat]. Overall a good rocker if a little unoriginal but with a great chorus.

6. Love De Jour [3.51]
Typical AC/DC style fare, nothing special so I won't waste anymore time. Think The Cult c. Electric and your on track.

7. Faithfully Yours [5.47]
Pseudo Zeppelin with acoustic textures, yet annoying lyrics and melody..."When I first saw your eyes etc"....these would not be so bad except for the fact that the great elsewhere St John manages to make them so stale its unreal! Aldrich throws in a solo that is pure Ritchie Sambora with a nice Strat tone which does liven things a little but otherwise its a dull track.

8. Sex Machine [4.21]
Pure LA track...pounding riff, well delivered vocals [about Strip joints...naturally], the chorus has the lyrics "Come on little sex machine rock me down an' set me free n slide me in so easy" ...err OK...but the melody is so darn addictive you will find yourself singing this at any time. The track has quite a nice restraint bridge which is quite Badlands before Aldrich sends his fingers into a flurry of activity. A good track [if with tacky lyrics].

9. Metal Superman [3.47]
One crap title follows another yet luckily the song has enough to make you go past the hysterical title. Pounding riffs and the chorus sounds quite David Lee Roth [Skyscraper era - think Hot Dog & A Shake]. Aldrich gives us another superb solo that has great neck pickup Strat tone. The track also has a nice bridge that slowers the pace and features some nice jazzy chords from Mr. Aldrich. A track that gets the album rocking even more.

10. Judgement Day [5.48]
Original title eh!? Anyway ignore that and listen to the track - its a blinder. Zeppelin meets Floyd meets metal crunch. The whole band gels extremely well and it reminds me of Badlands [again] tracks like Winters Call, Seasons or The River. The solo is a bit of an epic featuring everything from Sykes style slow vibrato to Lynch flash to Yngwie flurries...all with GREAT TONE. Another highlight.

11. Devil Money [4.47]
A funky/bluesy metal riff blends with slide guitar to give a nice sound before typical metal story lyrics....but still sounding good. Chorus is a little lifeless and boring in truth but the verse makes up for it, vocal delivery is again strong and carries the track well. Not a bad way to close the album.

Well there you have it. Burning Rain's second album is a high quality slice of hard rock from the golden age. It does have a few blips in places but generally not enough to damage your listening pleasure. The lyrics for the most part are contrived and unoriginal buy hey who cares because you just don't hear them like this anymore so maybe they have not turned full circle and become original in this day of deep lyrics. The musicianship is of a high standard [but then this IS a Doug Aldrich album] and overall the band have improved on their debut somewhat. Now all we need is for the band to tour their asses of and I think they could be one of the bands that could revitalise the essentially dead Hard Rock scene [commercially speaking].

RATING
8.0

HOT SPOTS: Love Emotion, Stone Cold N Crazy, Cherie Don't Break My Heart Again, Judgement Day.

BOTTOM LINE: An album of traditional hard rock that sounds surprisingly fresh.

Review by Andy Craven.

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