Rock Blog #57: Catalano, Dan Lucas, Pride Of Lions, Michael Sweet, Creye

Clearing of the desk continues... some of these have been waiting for their time for quite some time, some are newer. This batch doesn't contain any real gems, but each one of them do have a selection of good songs and are worth checking out.

When the name of the band is CATALANO, and I instantly thought they’re from southern Europe. When I heard their music, I had second thoughts - they have that Scandi-Sleaze sound of Crashdïet, Hardcore Superstar etc… but no, they come from Australia! Roxxi Catalano is the band’s vocalist, and you might remember him from the band De La Cruz.

”Perfect Storm” (RRR) is the band’s first album. As I said, the band has nailed the Scandinavian Hard Rock style, but of course it all goes back to the 80’s and the likes of Mötley Crüe, Ratt and Dokken. Most of the songs of this album are on the sleazier side of hard rock, with rough, snarly vocals, good riffs but fairly weak choruses. For the title track and the last two songs of this the band moves into a more melodic style: ”Perfect Storm”,  ”Unrequited” and ”Foolish Hearts” remind me of Dokken, Harem Scarem and Heavens Edge, with Roxxi switching to a cleaner vocal style.  ”Unrequited” gets my vote as the album highlight.

The first solo album from DAN LUCAS was called ”Canada”, but he is in fact a German singer. ”Canada” was a fine piece of early nineties AOR, but I haven’t really gotten into his other albums. His recording career got a boost when he won The Voice Senior in 2019, and now ”Age Is Just A Number” (RRRr) is his second post-comeback album. 

With age, many artists mellow out and start writing slower, less vocally demanding songs. Lucas hasn’t really done that, there’s some rather energetic rockers on this album. He’s not afraid to go for those high notes either. Of course his voice has changed a bit from the ”Canada” era, it’s more raspy but still recognizable. Interestingly enough, his voice reminds me of Rik Emmett of Triumph… another Canadian connection. The songs themselves are solid enough, no-frills melodic rock songs. Some of these remind me of latter-day Bon Jovi, some are more in the vein of Journey and Bryan Adams. 

PRIDE OF LIONS took the AOR world by storm back in 2003 with their debut album. Since then, Jim Peterik and Toby Hitchcock have released several albums, with ”Unbridled” (RRR) being the 8th studio album.On this one Jim Peterik sings most of the songs for some reason. Maybe the songs are very personal to him or something, but I would have certainly preferred to hear more Hitchcock. He does join in on most of the choruses though… Regardless of the lead singer, I’m afraid most of the songs leave me cold. ”Edge Of Forever”, ”I Can See In The Dark” and ”I Can’t Let Go” are among the best ones, but to be honest, compared to the best of older Pride Of Lions material, they don’t stand a chance. 

MICHAEL SWEET of Stryper is a very productive songwriter. He writes all the Stryper songs, but has also managed to write and record about a dozen solo albums, not to mention other projects like Sweet & Lynch, Iconic, Soledriver and Sunbomb. ”The Master Plan” (RRR) is his latest solo album, and it showcases his versatiity. These songs do not sound like Stryper, except for the distinct vocals of his. Musically the songs range from modern pop rock to dark and melancholic ballads, with all kinds of excursions to country’ish vibes and whatever the heck ”You’ll Lead And I’ll Follow” is… swing? I can’t say I like all the tracks, but there are some nice melodies there. My favourite track is probably the title track, which sounds a bit like a Christmas song, not the cheery kind but something a bit more dramatic.

I tried hard, but couldn’t get away from the Swedes! CREYE released their fourth album ”IV - Aftermath” (RRRr) in April. It’s their first with new lead vocalist Simon Böös, and it sees the band continuing their move into more modern pop/rock style. With their previous album the band brought in some heavier elements to some songs, but on ”IV” they’re pretty much gone. This is a polished, melodic album with a contemporary sound and arrangements. 

After first spin, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about these songs, but they’ve somehow grown on me, at least some of them. The opener ”Something Missing” might be the album’s heaviest song (in a not so heavy way though), and ”Bad Romance” has some cool hooks. No, it’s not a cover of the Lady GaGa song. The moody ”Left In Silence” is very good too. When it comes to the others, they aren’t bad but are often lacking when it comes to choruses. There’s a certain politeness that waters them down.