Here’s a really pleasant and unexpected surprise from England. You know…the country that once spawned the most legendary bands of the classic rock sound and it has abandoned literally the whole genre for many years now. “Raining Rock” is a pure hard n’ heavy album that it honors the 80s hard n’ heavy scene. At moments, it closes the eye to the heavy metal scene of the mid-80s and at the same time it openly flirts with the hard rock genre of the same decade…and if you need any further explanation, this band doesn’t need (or want, for that matter) to owe anything to any music style after the early 90s or something. Jettblack’s inspiration lies firmly in such bands –at least to my ears- as Dokken, Y&T, TNT, Keel and many other similar names of the past.
This is their sophomore effort and it bears the mark of a cohesive and absolutely catchy record with an emphasis not only on the well-crafted songs and the beautiful melodies but also at the long forgotten in 2012 backing vocals that uplift the compositions (in a way that Dokken and Def Leppard were so familiar of doing so in the past). Especially, when you listen to songs like “Prison of Love”, “Something About This Girl”, “Never Gonna Give It Up” you instantly go back to Hollywood and the legendary Sunset Strip. Jettblack are definitely kids of that scene and they wouldn’t have the slightest problem in fitting in there…despite their British origin!
Highlight: The great Udo Dirkschneider is featured in “Raining Rock”…
