Released By : Frontiers Records
Genre : AOR, Melodic Rock
Links : http://www.myspace.com/officialnelson
Tracklist:
1. Call Me
2. Day By Day
3. Ready, Willing And Able
4. How Can I Miss You
5. You’re All I Need Tonight
6. To Get Back To You
7. When You’re Gone
8. Take Me There
9. Come
10. In It For The Money
11. Change A Thing
12. Kickin’ My Heart Around
What is there to be said about the brothers NELSON that hasn’t been said before? Not much probably, so why don’t we just get straight into the review fro the newly released comeback album LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE.
The new album is the first time we have heard from NELSON as a group in over a decade, and in the time in between brothers MATTHEW and GUNNAR have dabbled in different elements of the music industry but never really did anything which fans of the old band would have been interested in. In fact, I have heard that before being approached by the mighty FRONTIERS RECORDS to re-unite for an album they were actually working on some kind of dance pop album. I’d say it was great timing from FRONTIERS to save these guys from going somewhere that you can’t come back from, and with the resurgence of interest in the AOR and MELODIC ROCK genres over the last few years, the time was right for a new NELSON album.
I must admit to not being a big fan of NELSON in the past, it’s not like I didn’t know their songs or anything, but at the height of their success I was in my early teens. Being that age and admitting to liking a band with two bleach blonde pretty boy twins would have been a death wish back then and a sure fire way to loserville station.
Luckily for me, with age comes a combination of wisdom and the lack of concern on what others think of your likes and dislikes, so I have certainly reacquainted myself with their music over the last few years. From what I can feel though, LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE seems to be their best work since the 1990 mega album AFTER THE RAIN and is possibly one of the best AOR albums of 2010. It rocks out a bit and heads toward melodic rock territory, but never enough to make pure AOR fans uneasy and I can’t help but think that this is the album BON JOVI should have released after KEEP THE FAITH. If they had of done this, their credibility in the melodic rock scene may not have been tarnished as it has over the last decade or so.
CALL ME, DAY BY DAY and YOU’RE ALL I NEED TONIGHT could all easily be mistaken as BON JOVI tunes with sound-alike vocals in tow, but these three tunes are actually better than anything BON JOVI have release since the KEEP THE FAITH ALBUM. READY, WILLING AND ABLE is a true highlight and is a pure late eighties to early nineties melodic rocker in the vein of DANGER DANGER or STRANGEWAYS. TO GET BACK TO YOU is sensational tune that starts off as a piano driven quiet track but slowly builds into a great power ballad. WHEN YOU’RE GONE is an obvious single and so totally ready for rock radio. I found another highlight with IN IT FOR THE MONEY which sees the band heading in blues rock territory and is a very fun tune. Also trust a band like NELSON to leave one of the highlight tunes to the very end with KICKIN’ MY HEART AROUND, a tune that is sure to excite any and all fans of the AOR genre.
If the brothers NELSON still had the ability to record and release tunes like these, where the hell have they been over the last decade or so?? A very welcome return from a band that has always have a little bit of something special, and an easy purchase for any fans of the AOR and MELODIC ROCK genres.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 9/10
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