Released by: Napalm Records
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Hard Rock
Links: https://www.facebook.com/alterbridge
Line Up:
Myles Kennedy – Vocals, Guitar
Mark Tremonti – Guitar, Vocals
Brian Marshall – Bass
Scott Phillips – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Show Me A Leader
2. The Writing On the Wall
3. The Other Side
4. My Champion
5. Poison In Your Veins
6. Cradle To the Grave
7. Losing Patience
8. This Side of Fate
9. You Will be Remembered
10. Crows On A Wire
11. Twilight
12. Island of Fools
13. The Last Hero
I can’t remember off the top of my head if I’ve ever reviewed an Alter Bridge album (I think I have but my brain isn’t what it once was and my archives are not with me.) I can say without any equivocation: they are the best radio friendly hard rock band going right now. It blows my mind that ¾ of this band is Creed- a band I loathe save a couple of tracks in their entire catalog. However, removing Stapp and adding the incomparable Myles Kennedy (one of the best singers out now for sure) made such a tremendous difference, allowing the band to create music on a whole different level. With the release of their fifth album, The Last Hero, Alter Bridge are prepared to continue their trajectory of releasing high energy, heavy-edged hard rock with darker undertones than their peers.
One of the most appealing aspects of Alter Bridge has not simply been that Kennedy is an amazing singer playing captivating songs as performed by the tremendous talents of guitar powerhouse Mark Tremonti, bass master Brian Marshall, and drummer extraordinaire Scott Phillips, but the fact that as a unit the band creates such imaginative soundscapes and Kennedy adds such compelling and intriguing vocal melodies. This is the biggest reason I name them as the best band of this particular genre, because they always have, and continue to demonstrate a musical capability lost on so many of their contemporaries. Alter Bridge are not afraid to write songs like “The Other Side,” “Show Me A Leader,” and “You Will Be Remembered,” that on the surface can be appreciated by the general music consumer (hence the fact they get played on the radio) yet at the same time offer so much intricacy beneath the surface, whether it be unique vocal structuring or guitar riffs that are wholly an Alter Bridge/Mark Tremonti device, that truly sets them apart.
Alter Bridge are not a band I listen to with great frequency, but they are a band that when I hear their music I know immediately that it is them and I never fail to appreciate their talents. “The Last Hero” demonstrates the chemistry that these four men have. It’s as equally hard to imagine the Creed connection as much as that Alter Bridge are still the same four men as when they started. That is a miraculous feat in and of itself. If you’re already a fan of this band chances are good you’ll walk away from their latest still a big fan. If AB is new to you, it’s as good an introduction as anything else they have done.
Reviewer: Chris Martin
Rating: 9/10
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