Album review : FIRST SIGNAL – Face Your Fears

February 19th, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 17.02.23]

Harry (Harem Scarem) Hess teams up this time with producer/writer, Michele Guiatoli, who has recently impressed us with his guitar and mixing desk skills on the Issa album, Lights Of Japan.

The last First Signal album was something of a disappointment, largely down to Daniel Flores’s milky production and Alessandro Del Vecchio’s unexciting songs.

Face Your Fears, appropriately, goes quite some way to correcting that.

Opener, ‘Unbreakable’ reminds us, as if we’ve forgotten, that Hess was the prime mover in the legendary Harem Scarem, at one time the genre’s great white hope.

Apparently Guiatoli challenged Hess … not necessarily to match his earlier HS high points, but make a truly great melodic rock album again.

Working in collaboration, the duo met the challenge head on, and here have delivered 11 tracks that sound fresh, exciting and powerful, overflowing with conviction in their ability as artists, and clearly filled with affection for their art.

‘Unbreakable’ is the first statement. It’s a hard hitting, compelling melodic rock song.

‘Face Your Fears’, ‘Never Let You Go’ and ‘Never Be Silenced’ are brimful of heart stopping hooks and aggressively infectious choruses.

Better than that, ‘Shoot The Bullet’s blessed chorus and ‘Rain For Your Roses’ beautiful chord shifts pick up where Harem Scarem left off with Weight Of The World in 2002. In your face, almost carelessly melodic, engaging, purposeful. When you get to this point you’re thinking that Hess is on a mission of some kind. Getting older, a family man. Plenty of steely guitar work, but there’s a warmth here, like there is something more going on.

The highly accessible ballad/ love song, ‘Always Be There’, confirms that notion, with Hess suggesting that he’s been there, done that, and is perfectly happy with where he is now… ‘you and me are forever’.

Nice way to sign off. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)