Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Release date: March 21, 2205
Production: Leo Leoni & Charlie Bauerfeind
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 8/10
Gotthard need no special introduction. Today they’re a truly big name in European hard rock, but when they formed, they showed up on the scene at the wrong time. Back then, everything was in demand except optimism wrapped in highly musical pomp. Still, their perseverance through the tough nineties, when every grunge and post-grunge band was laughing at hard rock, and above all the rock-solid bond at the creative core between guitarist and bandleader Leo Leoni and the (sadly) late vocalist Steve Lee, eventually carried Gotthard to the genre’s throne, not just at home in Switzerland but in other countries too (especially) across the old continent. In German-speaking lands, simply put, Gotthard are a giant name today! After the tragedy that took vocalist Steve Lee’s life, though, the band just can’t seem to get back on its feet (when it comes to keeping up the quality of their albums from the era with Lee in the lineup), which only showed how strong a vocalist Steve Lee was.
Gotthard do record very good albums in the post-Lee era too, but they lack that all-important dot on the ‘i’ that keeps them from sinking into oblivion a few months after release. The same goes for the latest, “Stereo Crush”, a very decent record with some really strong moments, such as (in running order) the punchy, infectious Thunder & Lightning, right after it Rusty Rose, and the anthemic, hard-hitting ballad Burning Bridges, all of which prove the band keeps its mature creative charge in new times too. Including a cover of The Beatles classic Drive My Car, though, shows the opposite. That you’re running short on your own ideas. True, in the early days covers like Hush and Mighty Quinn, among others, made the band’s name, but that was a long, long time ago, when they had to prove themselves and find a way to break onto the scene. Well, given the status Gotthard enjoy today (after more than 30 years and 14 studio albums), putting covers on a studio album doesn’t exactly scream credibility and confidence. On album number 14, there’s simply no need for it. The band obviously thought the song was great, and the cover is otherwise very well done, but even without it, a solid eleven original tracks remain.
The production is impossible to miss. The bass lines are gleaming and rattling, and the album wears a thick tarp of voluminous, underbelly-shaking sound. The ‘fat’ opening assault AI & I flags it right away. The phrases are raw and gleaming, and Leoni often backs his phrasing with a talk box, which has in a way become the band’s trademark. This arranging trick comes through most intensely in the single Boom Boom, inspired by the birth of his son while he was writing material for the new album. The phrases are ‘wrapped’ in a warm sound imitating Hammond organs, which is yet another Gotthard standard. Rustic. And ballads? Those have always been a big part of the band’s character and work. Life is a new song written in that vein, and with it Gotthard try to capture the popularity of such tracks from the immortal era when Heaven, The Call, All I Care For and Let It Rain were born with Steve Lee. Very good, but it’ll stay in the shadow of the band’s ballad classics.
The plasma of ‘predatory’ musicality stays appealing on the new album. That’s the demanding pomp and bombast the band spoiled us with long ago. Liveropool, and especially the majestically anthemic Shake Shake, which counts as one of the new album’s strongest compositions. The mood swings between tracks are also gratefully captured on the album (thanks to a pleasing degree of contrast in how the songs are structured). After Boom Boom in the first half, that comes in the form of Devil In The Moonlight, with a playful twist in the melody inside the chorus. Dig A Litle Deeper is a weaker spot, and in the nearly four minutes that track lasts, the album sadly goes nowhere. The closing, bluesy-tinged balladesque These Are The Days is a celebration song that once again tugs more at the hearts of the gentler sex and is one of the album’s most dynamic compositions. The guys didn’t forget to work in some harmonica either. A very successful composition. Still, in its spot at the tail end of the album, a proper hard rock shrapnel blast would have fit better.
A very skillfully composed album, as you’d expect from this extremely mature and long-lived band, who certainly don’t lack experience and mighty mileage. “Stereo Crush” is a real Gotthard album. Head to toe. And on top of that, a very good one. It ignites and fires you up. It’s a pleasure to listen to. But there’s a catch. Maeder is a very, very good singer. The compositions are tailor-made for him, and on his sixth album (since he joined Gotthard), he proves with his vocals on “Stereo Crush” too that he’s made of the right stuff. Tone, approach, phrasing. Everything. It all clicks. But when you go back with comparisons to that era from 2009 on down toward 1992, it’s clear that “Stereo Crush” brings nothing more than the pleasant realization that Gotthard are still here, and that we’ll hopefully see them on a stage somewhere soon. Yet it’s composed and produced in a way that hard rock bands today can only dream of.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. AI & I
2. Thunder & Lightning
3. Rusty Rose
4. Burning Bridges
5. Drive My Car
6. Boom Boom
7. Life
8. Liverpool
9. Shake Shake
10. Devil In The Moonlight
11. Dig A Little Deeper
12. These Are The Days
Lineup:
Nic Maeder – vocals
Leo Leoni – guitar
Freddy Scherer – guitar
Marc Lynn – bass
Flavio Mezzodi – drums
