To listen to the start of “Answer to My Prayers” – the opening shot on “Go!” – is to be transported back to 1985, when hard rock like this was everywhere. Fittingly, that’s also the year Roulette formed.
Never mind the tortured backstory, with label issues, name changes, and the small matter of taking over 30 years to put an album out – they’re celebrating their 40th anniversary with 10 new songs of utterly classy, magnificent hard rock.
“Fire in Your Eyes” is the sort of thing that, if you’ve ever liked hard rock, you’ll never be able to resist. And the superb guitar sound on “We Remember You” would have seen it all over MTV back before the Internet ruined everything.
Things get a little heavier on “Strangers”, and there’s a definite Def Leppard swagger here.
Everything on “Go!” is confident, classy, and extremely well done. “What Are We Looking For” adds a sensational solo to the growing list of things this band is clearly brilliant at – and mostly, it just feels like everything here is played by lifers who know exactly what they’re doing.
The way “Take Me as I Am” builds to its hook belongs in arenas, and the fact they’ve played shows with FM makes total sense.
But don’t, for one minute, think this is some limp excuse to rehash the past. “Brand New Start” is just one of many with roots in the glory days but eyes firmly on the future.
“Don’t Be Sorry” is surely designed to be played live, such is its sense of fun, and it’s impossible to hear the keyboard-led opening of “She Can’t Hide” without thinking of mid-period Europe.
And just to prove there’s not a weak moment here, the final track, “Better Walk Away”, sounds like one of those Bon Jovi B-sides you could never understand why they left off the album in the first place.
Every once in a while, you hear an album so good you can’t understand why you’ve never heard of the band.
“Go!” is that record – one of the best hard rock affairs in years.
Get ready, get set… to love it too.
Rating: 9.5/10
