If you are a fan of Eighties melodic rock and never can get enough, than you must be familiar with Melodic Rock Records from Down Under. Label boss Andrew has been at it for over 20 years, vigorously supporting the scene. And one thing is for sure, he always delivers with his releases.
For me, this one is a bit special as it sees local hero Joss Mennen (Zinatra, Mennen) return to rock. No matter how much I enjoyed his dialect solo work, it is nice to hear him sing stuff like this again. Yet Nitrate is based around guitarist Nick Hogg and bassist Rob Wylde. Besides Joss they also recruited Pete Newdeck on drums. And the mastering was handled by the mighty Harry Hess from Harem Scarem fame.
Enough name dropping, to the music.
On the surface this is a release that hits all the right spots, had it been released in 1984; a good mix of keyboards and guitars, catchy choruses, huge backing vocals, uptempo rockers and slow driving songs. And a bit cheesy lyrics…
As is often the case for me, once past the first few plays, the songs gain depth. All is done well and sounds like it.
My only point of criticism (besides the lyrics) would be that on a few occasions the rhythm guitars and drums feel not locked in 100%, with the guitars pushing harder than the drums. But that could be just me.
So if you are a sucker for rock as it used to be, surely one to check!