Pink Cream 69 - Thunderdome
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The Last Stance (Instr.) |
| Genre | Melodic Metal/Hard Rock |
David Redman
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 11 |
Alfred Koffler
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 44 Min. |
Uwe Reitenauer
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Guitar
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| Label | SPV |
Dennis Ward
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Bass
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| Release | 26 Jan. 2004 |
Kosta Zafiriou
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Drums
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| Country | Germany |
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Keyboards
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| Similar artists | Pretty Maids, Axxis | ||
Well well. Pink Cream 69. One of Germany's greatest bands. Loved. Respected. Critically acclaimed. Huge fan-base. But their melodic metal/hard rock has never made a profound impression on me no matter how much musicianship and skills there might be in the band. In all honesty I also have to admit that I'm not that big an advocate of this particular department of the scene either and that of course doesn't really help much when their latest 11 number outing, Thunderdome- their 11th studio recording to date (and fourth since the departure of ex-vocalist Andi Deris)- is to be reviewed. This album obviously took over two years before completion mainly due to guitarist Alfred Koffler's persistent troubles with a hand inflammation but I can't really say that it was worth the wait. Early and vague circulating reports forecasted that Thunderdome would turn out to be the band's most memorable disc ever though and I genuinely hoped that Pink Cream 69 would offer a different twist with this output and prove those rumours true and deliver an album crackling with power. But unfortunately no such thing has occurred and those rumours will be quite scotched by me.
I have no problem whatsoever in recognizing the great musicianship and musical abilities in every position of the line up or awarding an as good as top-notch grade for the absolutely terrific full sounding and fat production by Dennis Ward that must be considered the best ever in the band's history, but my problem lies with the compositions. Although the whole Thunderdome deal starts out pretty good with cuts like the heavy title track, the fast fuelled Gods Come Together Fierce and the rocky and melodic Here I Am, it then very sadly gradually plunges into almost sheer boredom and doesn't at all fully recover. Retro Lullaby and Another Wrong Makes it Right make some attempts to repair the damages but must still be considered as quite futile mending efforts. The rest of the material in shape of a ballad and some plain rock numbers utterly fail to keep my mind focused on the music and when all is said and done I once again have to establish that Pink Cream 69 never seem to capture enough excitement and continue to for me fall well short of the mark. Sad but true.
The primes of the album are of course the aforementioned musicianship and especially the gritty guitar-work, some vibrant solos and David Redman's (the perfect replacement for Andi Deris) vocal efforts. These installments combined with the superb production and a certain quality feeling are the only reason to why I don't completely discard this as a complete and utter dust collector. In comparison to other Pink Cream 69 outputs, Thunderdome is for me perhaps still a bit better than their previous Endangered but a bit worse than Sonic Dynamite, that I still claim is their most enjoyable affair to date.
I know I'm not being the most enthusiastic reviewer here and perhaps my final judgement also might seem very unfair for many of you readers and of course Thunderdome will be much more appreciated by those loyal to well crafted melodic metal/hard rock than by a much more power and speed craving adherent like myself. The most ardent fans, worshippers of Pretty Maids and Axxis and probably also many other reviewers and critics will most likely only be too pleased to receive this Pink Cream delivery but no podium position will be awarded by me this time. Check it out if you're still curious but such actions are definitely at your own peril and power metal freaks should absolutely circle this one very wide!
See
also review of: Ceremonial
, Endangered
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Production
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Vocals
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Compositions
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9 |
8 |
5 |
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Summary
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5,5 chalices of 10 - Mat |
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