JADED HEART
Helluva Time
Frontiers Records 2005
www.jadedheart.de

What’s the 4-1-1?
The seventh studio album from the Germany based melodic rockers is the first to feature the brand new frontman from Sweden, Johan Fahlberg.

Genre
Hard rock / melodic rock

The Good
The good news about this album is that if you want to hear some absolutely killer guitar work, you are in for quite a treat. The combination of Barish Kepic, Henning Wanner, and Jonah Falberg’s contribution on the six-string attack is phenomenal. It’s easily the best part of the CD. You can check out the tracks “Love To Live,” “Who’s Foolin’”, and “Tomorrow Comes” as examples of the best guitar work. The first power ballad “Hole In My Heart” was decent. Falberg’s best vocal performance is on the song “Paid My Dues,” a hard driving rocker that also features a great musical soundtrack.

The Bad
While I did like the vocals on “Paid My Dues”, my general impression was that the singing was merely adequate overall. Some songs were good, and others were just “there” with nothing really to point out special about them.
That feeling also goes for a few of the songs. They just had a generic, have heard it from a hundred different bands before feel to it.

The Verdict
It’s a solid hard rock release, but Helluva Time falls short in a couple of important categories for me. The guitar work makes up for a lot of the shortcomings, but not everything. I think you’ll enjoy most of it but might be left feeling there is something missing.

Did You Know?
The band was founded in 1990 by ex-Bonfire singer/songwriter Michael Bormann and his guitarist brother Dirk Bormann. Michael Bormann left his own band to pursue a solo career following the end of their tour in 2004 for their album Trust.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts