Giant X - I

Published January 07 2013

*=Staff's pick	The Rise Of The Giant X (Intro) On A Blind Flight* Don't Quit Till Tomorrow* Badland Blues Now Or Never Nameless Heroes Go 4 It The Count Rough Ride Friendly Fire Let's Dance Soulsurvivors R.O.C.K.

Genre	Hard Rock/Heavy Metal	Rolf Kasparek	Vocals
Tracks	13	Rolf Kasparek	Guitar
Running time	46 Min.	Peter J. Jordan	Guitar
Label	Steamhammer/SPV	R. Kasparek/P. Jordan	Bass
Release	21 January 2013	-	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboard
Producer	Peter J. Jordan
Similar artists	---

After many years and many turns, farewells and comebacks, Mr. Running Wild eventually releases an album under a different name. I believe Giant X is a band/project where Kasparek and his nowadays Running Wild partner Peter Jordan live out their true spirits and creates more from their inner senses. Honestly speaking, I think it's good that Kasparek now head for other directions when his main band has been stuck in barren lands during the last one and a half decade. A not so wild guess is that the fans would prefer a new Running Wild album, which also obviously have been Kasparek living in the last three decades. He has been around for ages now though, so I understand that he's looking for revival.

This release contains mainly hard rock songs with heavy metal elements. After a spoken intro, the album kicks off with the two best songs, the Running Wild oriented On A Blind Flight, which opens up with a classic Kasparek yeah-eah-yeah, and catchy Don't Quit Till Tomorrow, but from then on, there are mostly decent or fairly good songs. Not good, not bad. Just slightly outside his natural habitat and since listening to his music since I was young in the later half of the eighties, I must admit that it seems odd to hear this classic and individual voice on a different album. I also like Now Or Never, Rough Ride and Friendly Fire a bit, but I can do without goofy songs like Let's Dance.

Both Kasparek and Jordan must dismiss a vivid and living drum sound. It's programmed and sounds flat and powerless, just like on the latest Running Wild releases. The production also lacks power and that spark to lift the songs to new levels. Pretentious perfection, hollowness and emptiness is what comes to mind. I miss that raw and heavy push to the songs.

It's extremely hard to not compare this album to Running Wild's catalogue and in some way I admire Kasparek. Most of his fans and also himself think that his best work was released in the early nineties and yet he is still looking for change. Even after over twenty spins, I still feel it's strange to hear Kasparek in anything besides Running Wild. This album is not bad, but can you believe that this man once wrote and recorded songs like Riding The Storm, Treasure Island and Lead Or Gold, to name a few? All in all, a decent album and this outcome was somewhat near what I expected.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
5	7	3	6	5

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe