Kip Winger chatted to David Randall for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, featuring tracks from the new album. First broadcast Sunday 7 May 2023.
Frontiers [Release date 05.05.23]
It’s a sign of the times that Metallica have apologised to Winger for dissing them back “in the day”. But the difference between Winger’s latest offering and Metallica’s ’72 Seasons’ reveals one hell of a musical chasm. They are poles apart.
No doubt the illiterati will latch on to ’72 Seasons’ as some modern masterpiece and isn’t it great to see the band back in action even if they shamelessly recycle old “glories”. But ‘Seven’ reveals that we always knew that Winger were good, it’s other people’s prejudices and short-sightedness that’s the problem.
The truth is Winger are a great group of musicians and they write great songs. And ‘Seven’ matches up to their very best work. It’s their first since 2014 and reunites the original band with their sometime absent keyboard player Paul Taylor.
The early single ‘Proud Desperado’ and album opener isn’t the best thing here although an acceptable, and rousing, call to action. As the album unfolds it reveals Kip Winger’s superb songwriting credentials and not least vocal prowess. Let’s remember he can also find his way around a classical music score. Consequently much of ‘Seven’ is wide in vision and big in execution.
I don’t see how anyone with a pulse and a penchant for urgent, intelligent heavy rock music will fail to like this. ‘Heaven’s Falling’ and ‘Tears Of Blood’ get us firmly into the Winger groove.
Can it get any better? Yes! Riffage aplenty on tracks like ‘Resurrect Me’, ‘It’s Okay’ and ‘Time Bomb’ whilst a memorable chorus is never far away. And a song like ‘Broken Glass’ is right up there with ‘Headed For A Heartbreak’ for emotional pull. Absolutely wonderful.
It could be said that the best is actually saved until last and ‘It All Comes Back Around’ brings together all the elements that are great about this band: a superb musicality and the twists and turns of the song structure which reflect true creative industry. It’s almost an update of ‘Rainbow In The Rose’ with proggy undertones and a playout section that builds and builds.
The sad thing is that a band like Winger can’t support a UK tour in their own right. They pulled out of the Skid Row tour last October. Yes, they are guests of Steel Panther in May but can we expect much of this new album and will they just revert to the late 1980′s “hits”? They even do a mashup of tracks by artists with whom they have been associated over the years. ‘Seven’ simply needs to be played live in its entirety. This is one of the great rock albums of 2023. *****
Review by David Randall
Gig review (Bristol Academy, 21 May 2023)
Box set review (Chapter One Atlantic Years 1988-1993, 2023)
UK Tour Dates (with Steel Panther)
14/5 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
15/5 – Newcastle, UK – O2 City Hall
17/5 – Manchester, UK – Academy
18/5 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy
20/5 – London, UK – O2 Forum
21/5 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
23/5 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
25/5 – Belfast UK – Ulster Hall
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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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.
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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)
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