Quick plays: STRATOVARIUS, NINE DART FINISH

STRATOVARIUS Enigma: Intermission 2 earMUSIC [Release date 28.09.18]

In between studio albums Stratovarius give their fans a second ‘Intermission’ album and like the previous ‘Intermission’ released some 17 years ago, ‘Engima’ features three new songs, four orchestral re-workings of older songs and twelve rarities that have either been only on European releases or first time on a CD. So for fans it is a decent enough collection of new and rarer songs to make it worthwhile buying.

Of the three new songs ‘Oblivion’ is a classic Stratovarius tune complete with layered keyboards and a tasty guitar solo. The orchestral versions work well for the most part, although at times they seem to borrow that electronic beat from the ‘Hooked On Classics’ albums of the early 80′s! They lack the depth and bombast of the orchestral/symphonic metal other bands do.

Stratovarius were once the leaders of the power and symphonic metal field, however now they need to regroup and come up with something special for their next full studio album. Until then ‘Intermission 2′ will satisfy their fanbase, however I can’t see this winning over new fans. ***

Review by Jason Ritchie

NINE DART FINISH The Misadventures of… [Release date 04.05.18]

“The Misadventures of..” is the debut album from Birmingham based band Nine Dart Finish, a mixture of Brit pop influences and more raw edged rock, the album is a mixed bag really.

Opening track “The Cut Of Your Jib” is repetitive, simple and effective, this is followed by the Brit pop meets the Arctic Monkeys like “Fall To Pieces” and the Stooges like guitars of “In The City”. So far, so good, slower to start with the recent single “Kicking and Screaming” is another good song, “Falling For You” is another more guitar dominant song and the highlights are rounded off by “You’re So Cool”.

The album bows out with the punk tinged “London” and for me this is indicative of the issue here. At least half of “The Misadventure of…” is more Britpop orientated and when the band are in this vein they are just another band having ago, but, when they are playing the songs with the choruses and the dirty guitars they really do have something.

Nine Dart Finish are not a bad band, and this is not a bad debut album, I would just rather hear more of the guitar driven stuff that they suit much better. **

Review by Nikk Gunns

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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)