SILENT RAGE
Four Letter Word
Frontiers Records 2008
www.frontiers.it

Genre
hard rock / melodic hard rock / metal

The Good
Sometimes I come across music that’s new to me, and then there are times I like it so much I not only use it on my show, I add it to my own music collection. This album definitely qualifies! Silent Rage formed in 1985 and this is their fifth and most recent album. The leading song “You Could Be The One” really takes off with nice guitar breaks and then vocals take over. The backups are also excellent, including harmonies of a quality that you don’t typically hear.

“Man or Machine” has a guitar solo by Bruce Kulick of Kiss and Bobby Blotzer (Ratt) is here too on drums. The song opens with Dio-like guitars and vocals, it’s a dark and emotional piece. “Feel My Love” starts off with an early-Foreigner vibe and it’s got some great harmonies, it’s a semi-ballad with a smooth melody. “Nobody Knows” is hard rock, with heavy guitars driving the song. The album is guitar-driven rock, full of variety in its vocals and plenty of hooks.

The Bad
There were a couple songs where I was too distracted by the backups. Gilby Clarke has taken a rather raw, unpolished approach to the production on this album falls short of a good finished product at times. Some of the songs sound a little too garage band for me. Still this is one of the better albums that I’ve heard in a long time.

The Verdict
You can tell that this band has been influenced by some of the greats like Kiss or Dio, but they definitely have their own style. The vocals and lyrics stayed with me even after listening to the songs. It’s a great combination of soulful singing and solid, very well written lyrics. And it’s another example of what is fucked up about FM radio – my reaction to this album was “why the hell haven’t I heard this before??” and the answer is because you have to go to internet radio to find stations that explore a larger variety of artists. Silent Rage is a band that shouldn’t be missed!

Rating: out of 5

-- Allee Martell of Purrfect Timing