Opener to “Brotherhood” – either album 16 or the fourth LP in five years, depending on how you look at it – “Raised On The Wrong Side” is immediately everything that’s wonderful about FM. Come for the old-school Bon Jovi riff, stay for the best voice in hard rock, basically.
Then you can dig a little deeper if you like: the brilliance of Jem Davis’ almost-disco keys, or the fact that there aren’t many who can play guitar like Jim Kirkpatrick.
What you get is the almost-complete package.
“Almost” because they never rest on the past. “Chasing Freedom” is as West Coast California as they’ve ever been. Riding down the highway with a gentle breeze suits them too.
Of course, they’ve got to throw a couple of ballads in. “Just Walk Away” tugs at the heartstrings, but to be absolutely truthful with you, Dear Reader, unless Kylie Minogue returns my calls I’m the least romantic person on the planet. So the 80s-sounding “Because Of You” is more my thing. Whitesnake would’ve been all over MTV with this back in the day.
The tale of being in love with one of your friends is straight in MV’s wheelhouse. The happy ending here didn’t happen in real life, but hey – this has a belter of a chorus, so maybe that’s what I needed.
To be serious for a minute: there’s no band better at this type of melodic hard rock than FM. They just have that mark of class. Everything about them is top drawer. “Don’t Call It Love” – arguably the highlight – doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but it does it a million times better than the competition.
Things get a bit bluesy on “Do You Mean It,” right down to the backing vocals. And while we glossed over it earlier, let’s make it clear: Steve Overland has the best voice you’ll ever hear.
The ambitious grandiosity of “Enemy Within” gives way to perhaps the most political song of their careers, while “Living On The Run” tells a story worthy of a Paramount Plus miniseries.
They get a little funky and fun on “Love Comes,” and as if to prove there’s no letting up even in the deep cuts, “Brotherhood” ends with “Time Waits For No One,” a breezy track about aiming high.
It could just as easily have been about the passing of time, because next year marks the 40th anniversary of their debut album.
You could argue – with some justification – that bands of a 40-year vintage have no right to sound this good and this fresh.
That reckons, though, without the simple truth that the very best always can. Do not be under any illusion: FM are the very best at this.
Even allowing for the greater frequency (see what we did there?) of their releases these days, “Brotherhood” is right up there.
Rating: 9/10
