It was more than thirty years since the eponymous first album of the group 'House of Lords' was released, then nothing until 2004, the year that saw the Americans continue their career and this new baby 'New World - New Eyes' which is the 9th opus of this period. Lovers of melodic hard-rock and sumptuous guitar solos, you've come to the right place because everything has been done for effective and accessible compositions to be consumed without moderation.
And, all starts with the eponymous track of the album, an energetic mid-tempo with seventies accents with a remarkable first solo of 'Jimi Bell' in the style of 'Ritchie Blackmore', then, 'Change (What's It Gonna Take)', after a progressive instrumental introduction which recalls that 'Mark Spiro' (well known in the profession for having collaborated with quite a few artists with, among others, 'Kansas', 'Cheap Trick' or 'Mr. Big') wrote most of the tracks, then ramped up in mid-tempo with chorus close to 'Def Leppard' style. It is with 'One More' that things accelerate and the style makes me think of 'Status Quo', then 'Perfectly (You And I)' is the only ballad of the album which brings us back to the 70s, with the added bonus of a solo by 'Jimi Bell' with accents of 'Hotel California' by 'Eagles'. After its first 4 quite remarkable titles, the continuation makes us scroll through unstoppable melodies with first of all the energetic 'The Both of Us', then 'Chemical Rush' in a melodic hard-rock with choirs still reminiscent of 'Def Leppard', 'We're All That We Got' which begins as a ballad but which is a mid-tempo in the tradition of 'Foreigner', a rhythmic 'Better off Broken' in which we can not help but mark the measure, a new mid-tempo '$ 5 Buck Of Gasoline' with its heady chorus, then 'The Chase' which reminds me of the atmosphere of the album 'If You Can't Stand the Heat' of 'Status Quo' from 1978, certainly because of the brass sounds, the album ending nicely with the enticing 'The Summit' which again highlights 'Jimi Bell' with a remarkable guitar solo.
In summary, the Americans of 'House of Lords' continue to take us back a few decades with a melodic hard rock that we immediately appropriate and 'New World - New Eyes' should appeal to every audience who love hard rock from the 70s and 80s... | |
