Since the late 80s you have known what you’re going to get with James Christian and House of Lords. I remember getting the debut on Import from Tempest Records in Birmingham because I was looking for bands that sounded like Whitesnake (a couple of them have actually been in the various incarnations).
Fast forward almost 40 years and James Christian is the only original member left – one thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the class of the band.
Album number 12 (they had a huge hiatus before returning in the mid-2000s) is more of the same in that regard. “Crowded Room” stacks its harmonies high, polishes its hooks and the solo from Jimi Bell is sensational.
That’s pretty much all you need to know, in honesty, because the rest is like that too.
“Bad Karma” chugs gloriously, and if you could come up with an identikit of how a modern AOR song should sound, then the chances are you come up with “Cry Of The Wicked”.
There are subtleties though. The title track adds a flavour of Deep Purple, the blues departure of “Taking The Fall” is the sort of storytelling that might tide Thunder fans over, and the epic feel of “You’re Cursed” moves into more Power Metal than you’d expect.
It is impressive too, how modern they sound. “Not The Enemy” contrasts with many of their peers, that’s not to say, though that they can’t really ramp the nostalgia up when they choose, and every stadium 80s rock box is ticked on the power ballad “I Don’t Want To Say Goodbye”.
And if we’re honest, that will never be to my taste, but the rest of it is spot on. Like Magnum, there’s something just a little grandiose about HoL and when they do that – as on “Still Believe” – they are as good as it gets.
Mark Mangold’s keys are superb on the wonderful “Still Believe” and it could possibly be argued that they save the best until last with the nine-minute “Castles High”. It’s the type of song they’ve always been able to do – and why they’ve always stood alone.
“Full Tilt Overdrive” is proof of that – and if they’ve never made a bad record, then this one is one of their best.
Rating 8.5/10
