Maverick
Break it Up

Last year I reviewed an album called Quid Pro Quo by a band called Maverick, this band Maverick is not the same as they are Spanish as opposed to the previously mentioned band that is British. The quintet consists of five guys from Spain and this is their debut offering, a six track EP. The band states that: “Our vision of the best elements of the great Hard n’ Heavy rock era of the 80’s, with the 80’s production sounds, like a mix between Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake’s early albums, Judas Priest’s hard n’ pounders songs with the elegance of bands like Boston or Foreigner.”

Eighties is certainly what you come to think of and that it sounds a little bit dates, kind of like a cheaper version of countrymen Eldorado. And it is not just the sound, the style and everything about the album feels a little bit dated. The guys are skilled musicians but not particularly imaginative songwriters; I do think that those into nostalgia will find this very exciting. It is an EP that consists of six tracks of which one is a cover and it is not just any song they are covering, it is that excellent Out in The Fields that once was performed by Gary Moore. The variation over the 23 minutes and six tracks is not much to boast about, the cover song is the only one that differs from the rest and that isn’t even written by the band.

I think these guys have a long way to go before they reach a state where one can say that their music is interesting or exciting; this EP is like something we have heard before, many times. I would have liked something a little more dramatic and something a bit fresher, I think this album lacks the novelty that any fresh album has to offer. The highlight of the album is the cover song Out in the Fields that is a very strong song but it is nowhere near as good as the original and that is the main problem with this album, none of the songs are as good as the ones that inspired them.

These guys have talent and they should be able to do something good if they let go of the copying of other stuff and focused on making something more from the heart than this. This EP is not bad in any way but as a critic it is hard to be that impressed with something I have heard many times before, fans of things sounding old might see it differently though.

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