Night Laser start as they mean to go on. The drums rumble. The bass gives it its best Motley Crue circa Hooligan’s Holiday and there’s a fists up in the air chant. All of this in the opening 45 seconds.
“Hamburg Sleaze Rockers,” says the press release – and well, ok, if you like. The opening track is called “Backseat Dreams” and the slide solo is filthy, but imagine a mix of FM, Saxon and Bon Jovi and you’re somewhere there.
Bombast is the name of the game on “Way To The Thrill” and if starting with a guitar solo is always fun, then “No More Changes” proves my point for the thousandth time.
German bands just always seem to have a way of doing it big. “Don’t Call Me Hero” is a Eurovision entry if ever there was, and here’s the thing: Sleaze rock, throws all kinds of clichéd connotations up. You can’t listen to Night Laser and find them. Instead, “Law Of The Vulture” is metal, “Laser Train” follows it up by being a mighty boogie, and as if to make good on their promise to expand their sound and collaborate more effectively, the strings on the brilliant ballad “Travelers In Time” take the record into areas you might not have imagined.
If “Captain Punishment” is better than its title suggests (and does show Benno Hankers’ vocal range) then “Fiddler On The Roof”, the last one here, propels them fully into the brave new world of this third album. A nine-minute epic, the strings are back and the entire band – not least twin guitarists Felipe Zapata Martinez and Vincent Hadeler appear to revel in the freedom of a genuine Power Metal effort.
There are a couple of bonus tracks too. The country-fried German Language “Über-Alman” (Johnny Cash would be proud….) is another left turn on an album of plenty.
For Night Laser, stagnation was not an option. “Call Me What You Want”, but for my money, don’t call it sleazy.
Rating 8/10
