HAREM
SCAREM
Overload
Frontiers Records 2005
www.haremscarem.net
What’s the 4-1-1?
The Canadian melodic rock band is back with their 10th studio recording. The
album promises to bridge the gap between the past and present for the band,
combining high range vocal work from Harry Hess, and the guitar work of Pete
Lesperance.
Genre
Melodic / hard rock
The Good
I really enjoyed the tight sounding musicianship on this album. Lesperance’s
guitar work, Barry Donaghy on bass, and Creighton Doan on drums are seamless
throughout the album. Lesperance has a great guitar intro on the song “Forgive & Forget,” and
Doane really smashes his way through each song.Harry Hess sounds in fine
form here. He easily attains the higher end of his vocal register, and
has the ability to deliver a rougher tone to some of the
other songs as well. The opening track “Dagger,” “Afterglow” and “Don’t
Come Easy” are the songs where he especially stands out. Those three songs
along with the previously mentioned driving rock “Forgive & Forget” and “Some
Mistakes” form the core group of my own particular favorite tracks on the
CD.
The Bad
There’s not a lot to complain about here. I didn’t really care for
the ballads on the album. I’ve found myself having a harder and harder
time finding truly outstanding ballads that didn’t make me think of Air
Supply. That could just be my own personal thing.
The Verdict
I haven’t really listened to the band before and I wasn’t sure what
to expect. When I mentioned the band to some people I got wildly negative comments
and I had read equally wild praise for the band as well. What I found out is
that the band delivers a solid hard rock album tinged with a great sense of melody
as well.
As far as Overload is concerned, I find this
a really great album and would have no problems recommending it to fans of
the genre. It’s not perfect, but it rises to the top of the heap over a lot
of albums I’ve heard lately. I’m looking forward to checking out
their past material. If it’s as good as this album, then I’m in for
a fun time discovering the band for myself.
Did You Know?
The band changed their name from Harem Scarem to Rubber in 1999, but changed
back in 2002. Drummer Creighton Doane has a second solo album out called Learning
More and
More About Less and Less. Bullseye Records of Canada will release a 16-song compilation
from the band called The Early Years in June. The tracks are early recordings
before Harem Scarem
signed with WEA Music in the early ‘90s.
Rating:    out
of 5
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-- Jay Roberts
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