There are some bands that simply understand this stuff on a level others never quite do. Hardline are one of them. Over the course of a history that has twisted and turned more than once, one thing has remained absolutely constant: when the name Hardline is on the front cover, the odds are you are about to get top-class hard rock. “Shout,” then, comes with a certain standard attached to it. The rather wonderful thing is that Johnny Gioeli and company not only meet it, they make it all seem ridiculously easy.
Gioeli is effectively the leader of this band these days, and he starts as he means to go on. “Shout” has that grand, effortless feel that only the very best records in this field ever manage. Or, to be more accurate, Hardline make grandiosity appear effortless. That is a proper skill. It sets the tone for everything that follows.
Because if Gioeli is one of the great voices in hard rock, and he is, then having Luca Princiotta alongside him on guitar means this thing is armed to the teeth. “Rise Up” is a perfect example. The playing here is stunning, the sort of work that reminds you this band operate at a level that is almost without peer when they are fully locked in. Then “It Owns You” starts swaggering around like it is still 1992 and entirely unconcerned by the passing of time. It has that strut, that confidence, that sense that the chorus knows exactly what it is doing before it gets there. Alessandro Del Vecchio, meanwhile, is bubbling away underneath it all, adding colour and class.
He is even more central on “When You Came Into My Life,” where the piano drives a piece of classic AOR that absolutely soars. Hardline have always known that melody is not weakness, and songs like this are the proof. “Mother Love” goes bigger still, with something of a film soundtrack feel to its sweep and scale. Expansive is the word, but not bloated. They never lose sight of the song.
“Rise Above No Fear” shifts the gears a little. This is tougher, a little more modern in places, but still full of groove and texture. It hits hard without ever becoming blunt. Then “Candy Love” does the exact opposite and heads straight for the sunset with its fists in the air. This is as 80s as it gets, and gloriously, deliberately so. There is a keyboard intro that tips the hat to “Let It Rock,” and the whole thing sounds like it could have strutted onto “Slippery When Wet” without anyone batting an eyelid. Better still, the chorus is absolutely delighted with itself, and rightly so.
On “I’m Leaning On It,” Gioeli sings, “Drink the life I’m living,” and that line feels like it tells you plenty about Hardline. These are rock’n’roll lifers. They do not fake this music. They live in it. The album’s cover, “Welcome To The Thunder,” then takes a Scorpions-shaped idea and turns it into something that sounds like Hardline having a go at power metal. Which, frankly, is every bit as brilliant as that sounds.
And then there is “Glow.” What a way to finish. Beautiful piano, a magnificent vocal from Gioeli, and a song dealing with grief in a way that feels genuinely moving. Not just grief in the abstract either, but one dedicated to the dogs the band have collectively saved. It gives the closer a real emotional weight, and the record ends on something genuinely special.
Hardline are a brilliant band. Genuinely stunning. And “Shout” is another example of that. Their fifth album in 10 years, more than they managed in the two decades after that debut, is one of their very best.
And look, we got through all that without mentioning Journey once. Almost.
RATING 9/10
