Fifth Angel - Time Will Tell

Giving a new meaning to the word "mediocre", Fifth Angel released "Time Will Tell" as a follow up to their spectacular debut. But minus axegod James Byrd, along with the absence of sensible songwriting, their follow up was a bitter disappointment. The nagging problem with the album is that every song sounds basically alike, and even though its not necessarily a bad album, realistically its a boring one. Pilot's vocals are solid, yet none of the songs stretch his talents for the performance to be extraordinary. Byrd is not an easy guitarist to replace, and the one filling his shoes is obviously a decent guitarist, lots of solos, and cool riffs, but very little of his work is grabbing. Again, another solid point, but lacking. Bassist and drummer both alike are also very good but they come up as being just... solid. Even though there seems to be some talented folks here, it all comes up short because of the lackluster songwriting. There is but one or two songs that manage to capture a little of that spark they formerly had, and even so its a world away from the self titled debut. Opting for a much more commerical hard rock sound and failing with it at the same time, Fifth Angel's second release also doubled as their last. And I feel bad for bashing this cd so much because it is a *solid* disc. Its pleasant to listen to, but that's as far as it goes. And its all because of the generic songs themselves, with a few little highlights.

"Midnight Love" is without a doubt "the" highlight, and can only be described as a 'love anthem'. Musically it takes all the things there is to love about 80s melodic pop 'glam' metal, mixing it up into one song. Catchy rhythms, with smoothly delivered verses and quickly rushed vocal sections, and a huge build into an equally gigantic chorus sticks right into the head and is pure sing-a-long material. "Midnight Love" also comes equipped with 90s production that makes it sound bigger and better. But unfortunately the rest of the material on the album is a similiar yet pale comparision to this one song, and even worse, they sound pretty much alike, running together with a few cosmetic changes in sound. Grasping at straws trying to find something else that sticks out beyond the rest of the material, there's "Cathedral", which is a very...solid...melodic rock song, and "Angel of Mercy", another disgustingly typical tune, yet not too shabby at the same time. The chorus is easy to listen to with a slight hook to it. "Lights Out", a UFO cover, comes up as mirroring the original to a "t", from guitar to Pilot patterning his voice to that of UFO singer Phil Mogg. But the band sadly adds nothing to this little 70s hard rockin' tune. If you have heard UFO do the song then there is no reason to even listen to this one more than once. Again, another example of solidness.