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On disc: Vengeance



Same/Same... But Different Alive - Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars
Crystal Eye - Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars


www.vengeanceonline.nl







Crystal Eye

Crystal Eye
(SPV - 2012)


Dutch band Vengeance was founded by Leon Goewie 30 years ago, no surprise they have been through highs and lows. Nowadays Vengeance is Leon Goewie who hooked up with drummer Chris Slade, bassist Chris Glen and guitarist Keri Kelli. The songs were written by Goewie and producer Michael Voss who also added some guitar lines. Former guitarist Arjen Lucassen co-wrote the title track, while ex-Vengeance guitarist Jan Somers was involved in the artwork and Jan's son, Delain guitarist Timo Somers, plays on the album.

They kick off with the heavy rocker Me And You, quite like their 80's stuff incl. a dash of sleaze and big backings. Musically the Dutch singer and his gang present 80's influenced hard rock tunes and some heavy rockers like Bad To The Bone which have a dash of AC/DC-like boogie embedded. One of my faves is Five Knuckle Shuffle, a catchy, guitar-driven tune. Especially the guitar play is winning me over. Whole Lotta Metal is written by Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath) and is tailor-made for the Dutch singer. The powerful ballad Promise Me can't hook me up, even if it's well done. Another slow tune is Missing and this time they can hook me up. Even if I can imagine a more basic version to be even more emotional... Anyway, after this one you only get a short outro called Jans End Piece, a short guitar-based instrumental.

The limited digipack has 2 bonus tracks, Barbeque in a radio edit and Paint This Town, but that's all I can tell you, coz I just have the regular edition for reviewing.

Vengeance started when vinyl was still the medium and this album would fit a vinyl LP. But that's fine, coz it's an entertaining piece of music which you can enjoy every time you listening to.


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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Same/Same... But Different Alive

Same/Same... But Different Alive
(Metal Heaven - 2007)


The Dutch rockers started back in the early 80's and released their debut Vengeance in 1984.They released 3 more albums in the 80's including Take It Or Leave It and Arabia - both been quite successful. After the release of Arabia the band broke up. Arjen Lucassen started Ayreon. Later in the 90's they came back with Back From Flight 19, but from the early days just Leon Goewie took part. They played a few shows and then kinda vanished. In 2006 they returned with Back In The Ring and since the release of their 'comeback' album they played many shows. On their tours with U.F.O., Sinner and Axel Rudi Pell they played a best-of set including their hits like Take It Or Leave It and Arabia. With Back In The Ring and No Mercy they played only 2 songs from their latest studio work, but to be honest their fans want to hear their 80's tunes. The Dutch party rockers sound tight, even if the guitar riffs are not as sharp as in the past and it's no surprise that Leon Goewie's voice changed a bit through the years. Partly he sounds quite like Biff Byford...
The set list should make their fans happy, even if some might question the cover version Bad Boy For Love from Rose Tattoo, but the song they covered on their successful Arabia album and so it's no surprise that it's in their live set.
Fans of Vengeance will buy this album anyway, but as this is a kind of best-of-live album I recommend this to all heavy rock and heavy metal fans. Good party metal!


Track list:

Take It Or Leave It
Back In The Ring
No Mercy
May Heaven Strike Me Down
Dream World
Take Me To The Limit
Bad Boy For Love
She's The Woman
Rock'n'Roll Shower
Arabia


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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