Anyone who’s followed this site for a while knows just how much I adore this band. They are rather regularly touted as my favourite band, and we’ve featured them so much on here, be it interviews, live reviews or album reviews, that I honestly feel like I’m starting to become a bit of a stalker. However, I have been excited about this album for months and couldn’t not review it, especially when we got an early preview. So, let’s check this out together!
I’ve been obsessed with the opening track since the moment it came out. I even managed to do a reaction video to it, and gushed enough over it when I filmed that! For anyone already familiar with the band, you’ll know exactly what to expect out of it, and it’s another in a loooong line of incredible singles from the band. Timmy’s vocals are high and powerful and the melodies are so very catchy throughout. The backing vocals and harmonies somehow make it even catchier, too. The riffs are simple yet massive and so good. And we even just get a little solo to close things out. It’s the perfect radio rock track, and a phenomenal opener!
Shockingly, we’re only two songs in before we get our first slower, almost-acoustic-ballad in ‘Natural Born Vagabonds’. I’m not complaining though, as it’s another amazing song! It still has plenty distorted guitaring and chunky riffing behind of the driving acoustic and Timmy’s ever-impressive vocals. It all builds to another massive, stadium-filling chorus. It reminds me a lot of ‘Veins of This Town’ from the last album in all the best ways. It’s a Bon Jovi rock ballad of the highest calibre, and I LOVE IT. Having said that, we still get plenty of cheeky little Slash guitar licks and solos from Norman! It’s another fantastic track and completely different to the previous track, but in the best way. Both so far have easily made it onto our playlist!
The title track picks up the pace and energy again, a fun, bouncy riff running through it all. It gives the track a bit more of an AOR feel to it, backed up perfectly by all the backing vocals and harmonies throughout. And of course it already goes without saying at this point, but the chorus is catchy awesomeness. I can imagine it going down a storm live (I sooo hope they play it in a few weeks). It’s also an incredible guitar solo, maybe my favourite of the album, Bites channeling his inner EVH. It’s a song that’s gonna be stuck in my head for days to come, and the third in a row at making our playlist! It’s a home run album so far!
The riff for ‘Four Wheels’ is sleazy and dirty and amazing, having some swagger and attitude to it. The band have also catered to my OCD perfectly by having this be the fourth track on the album, thank you so much guys! The attitude carries through into Timmy’s vocal delivery, which is awesome. And damn, those off-time bass stabs in the verse were AMAZING. It reminds me a bit more of the band’s first couple of albums, having a heavier, almost grungier, sleazier edge to it. It’s another that I’m desperate to see live, too! The heavier edge is a welcome return, but still feels like it’s drawn together with the sound of their last two albums, too. I can’t keep adding every track onto our playlist, but just know that this is another incredible track!
Some more awesome soloing helps bring in the rebellious ‘Bring the Thunder’ in style. It’s another fun, foot-stomping hard rock track, and the lyrics definitely resonate with me pretty heavily. However, and I say this with no hint of it being a bad thing, it is pretty standard New Roses at this point. They know what works (and boy does it) and are incredible at writing that sort of style. The same can be said for ‘Spirit of a Rebel’ and ‘Whiskey in the Backseat’. Both are excellent songs that I love a bunch already, but I don’t want to repeat myself over and over in this review and come across like even more of a fangirl! They’re similar in feel, but I cannot recommend them all enough!
‘This Heart’ is another emotional ballad. It’s a bit rockier than ‘…Vagabonds’, but is still slower paced and a very Bon Jovi-style breakup song. It’s amazing, what can I say? The chorus is absolutely incredible, one of the best and catchiest on the album. It’s just made for playing stadiums and huge festivals. It feels redundant to say at this point, but it was another awesome song!
Another ballad is the wonderful ‘Hold me Up’, but this one features the amazing Gill Montgomery of The Hot Damn!. The pair’s vocals work so well together, it somehow making the chorus even more massive and impactful. And each little harmony in the verse is beautiful and amazing. They compliment each other perfectly, and honestly I’d love to hear more between the two of them. It’s another massive highlight of the album, and another one that I just had to sneak onto the playlist!
The final track on the album (as we write this), is a fun cover of the iconic Neil Young hit, ‘Rockin in the Free World’. I’ve seen them do this live and it comes across just as good on track, which is no mean feat! Everyone knows the track by now, but the band do put their own spin on it, certainly heavying it up a little! And honestly the pull off the classic track very well. Everything amazing about the original is here and turned up to 11. I loved it!
Overall: Well, that was a bit amazing, wasn’t it! Every track was amazing, and some are easily up there with some of the band’s biggest and best hits. I kinda felt like Sweet Poison was a bit of a grower for me (crazy, I know), while I got into this immediately. Any fans of the band are going to LOVE it, as are any fans of just rock music in general. The band continue on their feel-good rock n’ roll vibe perfectly, and have released another absolutely phenomenal album.
The Score: 9.5/10