Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Tokyo Motor Fist
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: February 24, 2017
Runtime: 41:35
Rating: 4.5/5
Tokyo Motor Fist is a new crew of seasoned old tomcats from the world of melodic rock, AOR and eighties hard rock. This time around, Danger Danger frontman Ted Poley, Trixter guitarist Steve Brown and a rock-solid rhythm section have joined forces: drummer Chuck Burgi (Rainbow, Brand X, Blue Oyster Cult, Joe Lynn Turner) and bassist Greg Smith (Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Rainbow).
It’s funny that Danger Danger haven’t put out an album in ages, while the band’s members wander from project to project and stay musically active the whole time. Poley, for one, recently released a new solo studio album. Trixter are a different story: back from the dead, they’ve dropped two new studio albums in a relatively short time. Anyway, the really good ideas are still flowing into yet another new project. This time it’s Tokyo Motor Fist. Judging by the debut »Tokyo Motor Fist«, it’s not hard to pick out the energetic, in-your-face party spirit of Trixter, drenched in the refined feel for musical craft that defines Danger Danger. A bit of both, in other words. It combines the best of both bands’ worlds. All in all, this album could catch the ear of fans of old-school Def Leppard, early Bon Jovi and Gotthard. It simply oozes musicality and an almost hypnotic catchiness that hooks you on the very first listen. The choruses practically compete with each other over which one gets to steal the spotlight on the album. This is an AOR album dressed up in modern production tricks. The drums are superbly pronounced, especially the cannon-blast, detonating »snare«, backed by the warmth of an active bass guitar, while the rhythm section delivers a seriously fat »floor«. On top of that sit tightly oiled, powerful guitar riffs, complemented by curtains of cleverly woven synth layers. The wall of sound they’ve built is truly seductive. Poley once again doesn’t disappoint and delivers his best. The crew also knows exactly how to stack backing vocal harmonies, otherwise the album would never grab you so hard from the first second to the last.
This is a party and rock’n’roll good-time album that grabs you from the first second to the last. It’s got no shortage of pomp and bombast, and as such it will truly delight everyone who loves the pronounced musicality that melodic rock, or AOR, brings. The band isn’t reinventing the wheel; they ride a proven formula of arranging and structuring songs that always ignites. In production, performance and songwriting alike, everything is in its place. It doesn’t bring a musical revolution, but it is an excellent achievement, a genre relic from some long-gone days, dressed up in a modern production approach. Whether it’s a ballad like Don’t Let Me Go, the punchy pulse-raiser and adrenaline-fueled album opener Piickin’ Up the Pieces, or the bombastic »drama theater« of the predatory Put Me To The Shame.
The album is outfitted from head to toe, in a word: top quality. No thoughtless moves, no songwriting »barrenness«. It’s an album of concise steps, thoroughly detailed solutions and carefully chosen ideas, the kind made by musicians who know which genre their heart belongs to and which musical recipe they need to use to make it ignite full-bloodedly once it hits the target. “Tokyo Motor Fist” is an album that all fans of Trixter, Danger Danger, the Danger Danger members’ side projects and solo albums, and last but not least fans of the other bands mentioned earlier in this review absolutely have to check out.
Tokyo Motor Fist – Put Me to the Shame (official audio):
Lineup
Ted Poley – vocals
Steve Brown – guitar, backing vocals
Greg Smith – bass guitar
Chuck Burgi – drums
Production
Steve Brown & Ted Poley
Track list
01. Pickin’ Up The Pieces
02. Love Me Insane
03. Shameless
04. Love
05. Black And Blue
06. You’re My Revolution
07. Don’t Let Me Go
08. Put Me To Shame
09. Done To Me
10. Get You Off My Mind
11. Fallin’ Apart
