On disc: Chris Laney

 
 Pure
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Only Come Out At Night
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Only Come Out At Night

(Metal Heaven - 2010)



 
 

 

Chris Laney is a successful producer which is documented by several nominations for the Swedish Grammy and he won 2 Grammys already. He worked with bands like Candlemass - the production of Death Magic Doom got him one Grammy - and Europe among others at Polar Studios. About a year ago the singer and multi-instrumentalist presented his first solo album - Pure. This man is a workaholic, coz beside his busy schedule he found time to do another solo album. The new one is called Only Come Out At Night and again he had some guests joining in. And again he hooked up for the song writing with Bruce Kulick who contributed to 3 songs.

The title track is the opener, a heavy rocker with fat riffs and with a lot American glam / sleaze metal in it. Piano leads you into Love So Bad which starts balladesque, but then explodes and becomes a catchy rocker. Chris Laney wrote this one with his mate Zinny Zan. Rockstar is a radio friendly track, a bit too polished for me... The song has an 80's feeling, but can't hook you up immediately.... Quite heavy is B4 It's 2Late, one of the songs Bruce Kulick co-wrote. And one of my faves on this album, coz the fast rocker really rocks and takes me back in time! Actually the songs Laney and Kulick wrote together are the once which stick out. The other songs all have this American sound and will remind you of one or the other 80's band, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The songs are well-crafted and should please genre fans. Okay, Chris Laney don't add anything new and stays within the genre boundaries. The last 3 songs aren't on the promotion copy, so I can't say anything about these ones.

The rating probably would be different, if it would be possible to listen to the songs without interruptions of so-called 'secret fade'. As much as I understand that the labels and artists want to prevent illegal file sharing, but for reviewing this sucks! It's annoying and this will always have an effect on the rating! Beside that the rating isn't re-presenting the whole album as we only got 8 off 11 tracks. So I can only recommend to give it a try and make up your mind.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Pure

(Metal Heaven - 2009)



 
 

 

Even if Chris Laney is active for many years, many won't know the Swedish musician. He is one of the leading producers in Sweden and a multi-instrumentalist. Even if he's a good songwriter, some songs on Pure are co-written by Bruce Kulick, Mats Levén and Lennart Östlund - among others. Lennart Östlund owns the legendary Polar studio - built by the ABBA members - and co-produced Laney's solo album.

The opening track is called Situation and after a few moments you know that glam metal is back! The heavy rocker reminds me of the early 90's and bands like Trixter, Firehouse and Steelheart. Heavy riffs and catchy hook lines - that's all it needs to have a good time, if you like this kind of music. The song sounds fresh, even if this style isn't the latest trend - but as every thing is going in circles it's coming back. Btw, the solo at Situation was played by Vic Zino (Hardcore Superstars). The following I Dunno is a Lepard-ish track, even if the vocals are a bit raspy and darker then Joe Elliotts. Quite heavy is Make You Cry where Rob Love (Zan Clan, Dynzty) and John Saphyre (Dynazty) added the solos. A heavy ear catcher!

A balladesque rocker is The Stranger In You, but with a heavy punch. Btw, drummer J. Koleberg and bassist Nalle Grizzly Påhlsson are responsible for the heaviness, the rhythmic playground for Chris Laney. At Get U Down Anders Ringman plays the solo and is doing backing vocals. This one has a sleazy touch... A bit like Def Lepard meets Faster Pussycats... Slightly symphonic kicks off Make My Day, but becomes a heavy rocker with sharp riffs and cool vocals. Another ear catcher! Btw, Mats Levén is doing backing vocals at this one! The piano-based power ballad Skin On Skin is sounding familiar... Anyway, in my opinion a bit too bombastic, it can't touch me... But well, beside that the album is fun... has several ear catchers and no real fillers... Quite good for a solo debut! ;)

Everybody who loves glam metal should check out the solo album of this Swedish multi-instrumentalist! And Def Leppard fans who loves Hysteria will love Pure! Nothing new, but Pure fun!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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