Black Rose
Turn on the Night

They've had a career that's been going for 20 years so I think it's a bit strange Black Rose haven't come up with more albums than the three they have. However, they haven't just rolled their thumbs while these years have passed though it seems they've worked mostly half-hearted. The current line-up have played together for five years and this is the first album they've finished, called 'Turn On The Night'. It's an album with classic hard rock in the somewhat heavier region and with a hoarse vocalist singing - the basic of the basics when it comes to basic hard rock.

I think Black Rose feels like a sort of archetype for "classic" hard rock played according to "the book". It's not really unconventional or groundbreaking and both songs, style and most other stuff is recognizable from before. I feel it's a bit like one of these tv-shows where old laid off celebrities return and compete in some form. Not that it feels like old celebrities competing or anything, but that there are these old familiar things coming back for a last on-chore together. Black Rose have a bit of Motörhead, AC/DC, Kiss, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Twisted Sister and Whitesnake - not in a big mix or anything, but you recognize the style of these in Black Rose' sound.

To be honest, I'm not really feeling any passion anywhere along the way of 'Turn On The Night'. It's not that the band plays bad or anything, they are decent and the songs alright but I feel this ought to sound even better. If you are to play this kind of music today then you can't foresee the standard that the bands mentioned earlier (as well as many others) already have set to the genre. To make something like this forty years later just don't cut it for me. It's too rough in the edges, too cheaply produced and just not enough distinguished from other bands in the genre. It's not that I feel they're plagiarizing anyone but to have something that just isn't plagiarizing anyone else doesn't make it a sound of their own. At least not in my world and especially not when they have a sound so easily confused with other bands.

However, perhaps I'm the wrong guy to judge. After all I've never really been a fan of this particular sound in the hard rock so maybe I'm the wrong guy to listen to if you are. Wether you like this kind of "classic" sound in hard rock or not you should be aware of how unrevolutionizing Black Rose are. They aren't really even making a mark of their own, just playing it the way it sounds. But they are playing it quite alright and I've definitely heard it been done worse so in the end it's pretty decent overall. OK but not great, three is all I can give them.

HHHHHHH