I am a big fan of the first couple of records by the Swiss quintet of China. Especially, “Light In The Sky” is a splendid sample of European hard rock sound that showed the way for future bands like Gotthard and Jaded Heart (just to name two of them). To tell you the truth, after that album, I didn’t have the chance to follow China’s career thus I haven’t heard their next two releases. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I received the promo for the band’s new material and its title was really promising with the similar connotation to China’s classic second record.
Unfortunately, all my expectations were crashed and the prominent sentiment –after the first listening of the new songs- was an absolute disappointment! If we want to be exact, I’d say that the new songs by China had nothing to with the outfit’s remarkable past and I really fail to understand what they wanted to achieve with that effort of theirs. From the wreckage of those typical and pointless compositions, the power ballad “Gates of Heaven” that reminds of Warrant, Poison, Slaughter is the sole exception and we could only wish for a few other similar numbers…wishful thinking!
I hope that the next China record will do justice to the band’s past…until then…
Highlight: Switzerland has built quite a tradition in the Hard Rock sound through the years.
