Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: CoreLeoni
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2018
Running time: 60:28
Rating: 4.5/5
CoreLeoni is a new hard rock outfit founded by Gotthard guitarist and band boss Leo Leoni. Last year Gotthard celebrated the 25th anniversary of their self-titled studio debut, and they capped that silver anniversary with their new studio album, fittingly called »Silver«. CoreLeoni, then, is a new band that plays the Gotthard classics. And that immediately raises a rhetorical question: why on earth didn’t Leoni get enough support from the mothership, so that Gotthard themselves could have given their classics a fresh coat of paint with a release like »The Greatest Hits Part 1«? Is the band’s respect for the legacy recorded with the late singer Steve Lee so great that Gotthard simply don’t want to go back to the past? Quite possibly.
Either way, Leo Leoni is truly a man of boundless commitment, always the first and foremost driving force behind everything that moves in the Gotthard camp, and behind the realization of every idea that ripens. And if the way to fulfill the wish of playing Gotthard classics turned out to be forming a new band, Leoni grabbed that option right away. He lured the outstanding Ronnie Romero into the new lineup. Next to Leoni’s riffs, this vocalist is the main magnet of the new band. With his thunderous vocal charisma he made a name for himself in the current incarnation of Blackmore’s Rainbow, as well as in Lords Of Black. A man with an exceptionally expressive voice, one who can sound uncannily like the late Ronnie James Dio. Who wouldn’t want him in their band? Leoni also reactivated another guitarist for the new project: the almost forgotten Igor Gianola, a former member of U.D.O., who for instance played Ljubljana with U.D.O. on May 24, 2004 (a year and a half later, in mid-November, Gotthard played Ljubljana for the first time too). The rhythm section is a proven one. On bass is Leoni’s old comrade Mila Merker, while the master of time in CoreLeoni is none other than current Gotthard drummer Hena Habegger.
So this is a compilation of re-recorded Gotthard classics, picked by Leoni, that come with a bit more bite and hit the ear harder and “rougher around the edges” sonically compared to the originals. That’s hardly surprising, since studio recording techniques keep evolving. But there’s something more to it: the essence of the new crew matters most here, not so much the production. What’s surprising is that some Gotthard songs, a band that never hid their flirtation with pop charm or their AOR-style melodic catchiness, pick up so much edge in this new musical environment that you can even talk about an occasionally metallized, jagged sound. The playing and performance on these reconstructed classics are fantastic and outstanding (Leoni, for example, has polished up all the newly played solos even further), and with the vocal performance of the thunderous Romero, it kills at full blast and enchants in an instant!
But it doesn’t stop at replaying the highlights of Gotthard’s career, released on albums between 1992 and 2005. CoreLeoni also deliver a brand-new song. That’s the original Walk On Water, an exceptionally well-chosen composition that slots perfectly into the rest of the material in the middle of »The Greatest Hits Part 1«. It feels like just one more freshly played Gotthard classic.
»The Greatest Hits Part 1« is, then, a big moment of release and studio fun for the forever hardworking and restless Leoni. With CoreLeoni, it also opens the door to live stages while Gotthard take a well-earned rest. It means a new working environment, collaboration with new musical partners, and the creation of fresh creative magic. Let’s hope some of that magic rubs off on the next Gotthard album too, which could definitely use a bit more bite. The title also hints that CoreLeoni may well release a second part before long. And maybe more. The original Walk On Water suggests that CoreLeoni may be able to serve up something the current Gotthard obviously can no longer recreate in the studio, and haven’t been able to since 2010, when Steve Lee passed away. That is exactly what a real studio album of fully original material could bring, with the clear axiom that nobody can ever recreate the substance Steve Lee once brought to Gotthard. Time will tell whether Leoni can get to that album more easily with the CoreLeoni crew or with his Gotthard. One thing is clear: with their performance, their refresh of the Gotthard classics, and the new original song, CoreLeoni have made it clear to the public that this is an exceptionally high-quality outfit that could deliver a very, very good full-length album of original material down the road. Let’s wish them plenty of inspiration!
Lineup
Ronnie Romero – vocals
Leo Leoni – guitar
Igor Gianola – guitar
Mila Merker – bass
Hena Habegger – drums
Production
Leo Leoni
Tracklist
1. Il Padrino
2. Firedance
3. Downtown
4. Higher
5. Get It While You Can
6. In The Name
7. Let It Be
8. All I Care For
9. Walk On Water
10. Here Comes The Heat
11. Tell No Lies
12. Ride On
13. Anytime Anywhere
14. El Traidor (bonus track, available only on the CD edition of the album)
