FIREWALL

I was reading recently that, whereas clothing, hair and even musical fashions shifted dramatically during the period from the 1960s to 1990s, in the last 20 years the amplitude of those shifts has narrowed, to the point where a picture of people from 2003 might not reveal a lot of clues around when it was taken. While I cannot deign to speak for any of these trends among the younger musicians, it seems like no time passed between Germany's RAMSES' 2001 and 2014 studio albums. Even the lineup is almost identical.

I suppose in this prog sprinkled concoction of hard rockers and ballads alluding to their keyboard laden past, a few extra pounds are coaxed onto the scale, and if I had to pick one over the other, "Firewall" would probably win, being more compelling more often, even if once again some of the excess baggage takes the form of live and alternate versions and yet another brief appearance of their original vocalist who presumably was middle aged even back then? I have this idea that maybe a live album even from the 1970s would be somehow more satisfying than these non bonus tracks.

Regardless, the album breaks any shackles right away with the menacing "Welcome to the Show", one of several that throws shadows back to the 1980s - think "Twilight Zone" by GOLDEN EARRING or "Jeopardy" by GREG KIHN BAND, along with more recent outings by fellow German's ANYONE's DAUGHTER" but more satisfying. It establishes the focus on melodic at times rhythm-heavy rock with fat key and guitar solos that don't really move the goalposts but lay out the band's confidence as instrumentalists. "Save the World" is every bit as powerful and impactful, with a wonderful reappearing synth riff that pays homage to their younger selves as well as their contemporaries at that time.

Other high points are the title track and the relatively sprawling "Straw that Broke the Camel's Back", with more hooks than a wardrobe stylist's closet and a blistering lead guitar solo. A lesser known instrumental originally on "Light Fantastic" (1981) is reprised with a slightly different name ("Back to the Glades") and is fine but, like the Xmas song and the aforementioned added tracks, doesn't really bolster the end product.

While "Firewall" doesn't block out or hide its affiliation with AOR and its ilk, it resumes this long lived collective's grasp of a credible style for our times that might even tickle a few of the less hardened among us.