Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Running Wild
Label: SPV Records
Released: 2013
Duration: 60:04
Rating: 3/5
Three years after the Running Wild name was officially retired, the big boss Rolf Kasparek came back with a solid album, »Shadowmaker« (2012), proving that Rock ‘N’ Rolf was hunting with all his might for the right levers to at least partly revive the magic of Running Wild’s golden past. That magic, and this is clear as day even after »Resilient«, is never coming back. The sound of the previous record alone was reason to celebrate, coming after that totally needless experiment, or to put it bluntly, complete artistic trainwreck, »Rogues En Vogue« (2005).
»Resilient« picks up the path laid out by »Shadwomaker«. It’s a tougher album than its predecessor and, in spots, even a touch faster. The opener Soldiers Of Fortunes shows a desire to conjure up the magic of Running Wild’s early-nineties work, but right after it the title track and Adventures Highway confirm that Rolf Kasparek is simply a different personality today when it comes to approaching compositions than he was in the eighties and nineties. Both of these songs bring out Rolf’s dabbling in the more hard rock-leaning projects Toxic Taste and/or Giant X. A bit later, The Drift and Crystal Gold partly bring back that feeling of days long gone. But the rebellious defiance, anger and fire can’t be compared to his work from the nineties. »Resilient« has been thoroughly plucked of those feelings, simply because Rolf can no longer awaken the magic of yesteryear. As an arranger he works differently in this new era, and he flat-out refuses to put together a band that would also play the freshly written material in the studio. He does everything himself, calling in only the most essential helpers, in this case guitarist Peter Jordan, to play whatever he can’t, doesn’t know how to, or doesn’t feel like playing. Even the »grand« Bloody Island, a 10-minute epic and the most ambitious piece of Rolf’s work on the new album, has some pleasant moments of classic, inherited Running Wild »melodiousness«, but it’s not even remotely close to epics like Treasure Island or Genesis, written in the band’s classic days.
This time too, Rock ‘N’ Rolf uses his own, countless-times-tested song-arranging template, even copying and pasting guitar phrases. That’s why »Resilient« also suffers from being trapped in monotony and auto-repetition, which is no news at all for Running Wild releases since the album »Victory« (1999). Production-wise, »Resilient« remains yet another Rolf fiasco of the new era, made on Rolf’s D.I.Y. principle. Look back at the massive, dense production of the albums »Black Hand Inn« or »Masquerade«, then throw a new track like The Drift, which faintly recalls the riffs of old, on the barbecue, and you’ll be literally stunned at how noticeably worse the production on »Resilient« is. The sonic layers of the individual building blocks of the sound picture are thin. It’s obvious that every one of those lines was recorded separately and glued together afterwards. That’s why the album doesn’t sound live. It lacks real fire and dynamics. That’s the album’s basic flaw, and a lot of the blame goes to Rolf’s stubbornness, which won’t let the whole band record the new Running Wild material. There is one thing Rock ‘N’ Rolf can openly brag about, though. He’s gotten better at programming drum lines. Software has obviously come so far in this new era that, say, processing the drum lines in “Q-base” brings a decent substitute for real drumming in the product’s sound quality. But whether Rolf should be boasting about that is another question.
Run Riot, Fireheart, Down to the Wire are songs that leave almost nothing behind. Nothing tangible. Nothing that would justify concluding that the album »Resilient« is worthy of the legacy of the band’s abandoned golden days of the eighties and nineties. The tracks listed are therefore total time-wasters on the new album. All that’s left is the consolation that »Resilient« is the best Running Wiild release since »The Brootherhood« (2002), which, again, doesn’t say much.
“Resilient” is an album that, after a promising start with Soldiers Of Fortune, slowly runs out of energy and steam toward the end. It’s not a bad album. It’s just completely outdated production-wise. At times Rolf’s worn-out vocals get in the way too. With the years they’ve become thinner and thinner and struggle to hit the highest notes. His »nasal twang«, which is otherwise a trademark of Running Wild albums, becomes downright annoying in a below-average delivery, especially in the chorus melody of the title track. Vocally, Rolf has lost even more energy and juiciness! He simply no longer knows how to package his vocals production-wise the way it needs to be done. It was always true that Rolf isn’t a good singer, but he always managed to patch that up successfully through production, with his recognizable vocal engraving, which has always suited Running Wild songs like a glove. In short: an album with a lot of potential that was left only half-finished in the final polish. But all of this is decided by one single man at the helm of Running Wild. His decisions over the past 15 years are clear and won’t change anymore. So it makes sense to look at Running Wild today as a completely different »band« (I’d rather call it a »one-man show with no one at the wheel«) than in the eighties and nineties. A band that only reminds you of the greatness of days gone by through its name and Rolf’s nasal vocals. And despite a few attempts at »mimicry«, »Resilient« sadly doesn’t depart from that.
Še a few gems about the “Resilient” cover. Take the mascot Adrian and the band logo off it, and you get a masterful knock-off of the covers of “Love Over Gold” (Dire Straits) and/or “Ride the Lightning” (Metallica).
Lineup
Rock ‘N’ Rolf – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Peter Jordan – guitar
Production
Rock ‘N’ Rolf
Tracklist
1. Soldiers Of Fortune
2. Resilient
3. Adventure Highway
4. The Drift
5. Desert Rose
6. Fireheart
7. Run Riot
8. Down To The Wire
9. Crystal Gold
10. Bloody Island
11. Payola & Shenanigans (bonus track)
12. Premonition (bonus track)
