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(8/10) New releases of 80’s glam metal bands are always a kind of musical surprise egg. Sometimes things end up in a less good way while some other bands surprise with excellent rock albums. The new release of Mark Slaughter is one of these examples scoring a great result and also L.A. Rockers Warrant surprise with an unexpectedly good new longplayer.
The bands big successes are over, no doubt. Times when songs of "Cherry Pie" went on endless rotation on MTV are history. That doesn't mean that the guys don't rock anymore. Actually they rock pretty heavy on their new longplayer.
Naming an album "Louder Harder Faster" raises some expectations, esp. when knowing that these keywords didn't really work for some earlier stuff the band released. In this specific case I can confirm that the guys made a bold statement with the album title but the songs also can live up to it. Already the title track doesn't take any prisoners. The opener is a dirty rocker that is hard, relatively fast and for sure should be played loud. "Devil Dancer" proves that this wasn't only a one hit wonder. Warrant reduces tempo, which makes the tune to a grooving song with excellent vocals by Robert Manson. Talking about persons; Manson is the only one not belonging to the original line-up. He joined in 2008 while the rest (Erik Turner, Jerry Dixon, Joey Allen and Steven Sweet) are with the band since the late eighties.
Furthermore you might expect that songs like "Only Broken Heart” are cliché ballads but actually the track is the opposite. It's a heavy rocker that's made for being played in small smoky clubs. But of course there are ballads too. OK, I could have lived without it, but tunes like "U in My Life" obviously needs to be part of such an album and Warrant does a good job. It's not that the song is bringing much new to the table. It's more a professional and soulful approach that fits well at the album's halftime.
To sum up: Warrant is back with an album that shows a mature rock band with still has a lot of potential, sounding better than ever before. "Cherry Pie" sold much better, but "Louder Harder Faster" rocks far more, grooves and comes with a down-to-earth spirit. Good news and good stuff.
(8/10)
Tracklist:
- Louder Harder Faster
- Devil Dancer
- Perfect
- Only Broken Heart
- U in my Life
- Music Man
- Faded
- New Rebellion
- Big Sandy
- Choose Your Fate
- Let It Go
Label: Frontiers Music
Genre: Hardrock
Release Date EU: May 12th, 2017
