Huge surprise! A record that came completely out of nowhere and at once put up a serious candidacy for the best albums of 2023. You see, it’s extremely rare in this time and age for a relatively new band to release their new work and immediately win you over for all the right reasons. I know what you’re thinking…another review praising a band without really deserving it since it will soon be forgotten. Believe me it’s not like that and Rockpages readers know perfectly well that we never write something without believing it. And maybe nowadays the music industry doesn’t favour albums to be classics and most likely will soon be forgotten but Tempt leave their mark here in the most emphatic way. But let’s take things from the beginning…
We had first got in touch with Tempt a few years ago with “Runaway”, a remarkable album that left quite some promises. But nothing had prepared us for this year’s self-titled work. A hard rock feast with a clear pop aesthetic and magnificent hooks all wrapped up in a modern environment. In addition, we are treated with a fantastic production/mix by the great Chris Lord-Alge that reminds us of times when labels spent a lot of money on albums to get an excellent sound result. In other words, Tempt write catchy songs having one foot on the glorious 80s and the other on…2023! They are both old school and modern at the same time. Imagine what Def Leppard and Bon Jovi did in a modern and contemporary setting. The choruses, backing vocals and guitar melodies would make Mutt Lange proud and it wouldn’t be out of place to say that the whole approach reminded me, personally, of what Desmond Child did with The Rasmus on their last album but in a decidedly more hard rockin’ context!
Tempt blew our minds and quite honestly there shouldn’t be any self-respecting hard rock fan out there who won’t give this album a chance. In a year that has given us only pleasant surprises for hard rock music, Tempt…tempts us to put them in the top spot of the best hard rock albums of 2023. Well, right beside Extreme and Winger that is…
Highlight: My only complaint is the cover sleeve but then again I could live with such a minor flaw…
