AFM Records (Released 03/04/20)
Worried that we’ve grown weary of the ten rock songs and a ballad format, Bonfire throw in a few (3 in fact) short instrumentals to punctuate the band’s well established sonic signature, on this, their 17th studio album.
Brevity is the key here – always leave them wanting more – the first, ‘The Joker’ has nothing to do with Steve Miller, neither is it a reference to the movie, although it has the tension, tone and taste of a Trevor Rabin soundtrack.
There’s an almost balletic twin guitar intro to ‘Fire Etude’, then Ziller launches a classical blast of cascading notes, ending the piece in a blaze of shooting star twangs.
So far, in both cases, yes, we’re left wanting more. ‘The Surge’ too is a widescreen slice of cinema, squeezing in the dynamic, textural touches you might expect from Hans Zimmer (rather than Hans Ziller… see what I did there?).
Each of the three pieces leads straight into a very powerful and melodic hard rock song. It’s the main event, three times. ‘Gotta Get Away’ squeezes into the space between the late Clyde Holly’s band, Biloxi and Steve Grimmett’s work with Lions Heart… the song soars, it’s graceful, it’s melodic, it’s blissfully thunderous.
‘Breaking Up’ is as lyrically banal as the title suggests, but Alexx Stahl’s skyscraping vocals lose no traction whatsoever as they hit the high notes, and the track’s tuneful middle section blends beautifully with Ziller’s short, harmonic solo.
The title track follows hard on its heels. And it’s ironic to hear Bonfire lyricising ecological catastrophe when they, themselves – as with every other hard melodic rock band – are fighting off modern day extinction. “Fistful Of Fire” delivers the message with plenty of oomph, so we read between the lines, and see that the band’s cultural stock continues to accumulate. ***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)
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
