Album review: COLLATERAL- Should’ve Known Better

Cargo Records [Release date: 24.05.24]

After bursting on the scene five or six years ago, Kent melodic rockers Collateral’s rise to the top has been a bumpy one – which has included the pandemic striking at the very moment they released their self-titled debut album and a number of line-up changes since. The other problem with the album was that the edge was taken off those songs that sounded so good live by an underpowered production- to the extent that the album was re-recorded with some added special guests as ‘Rewired’.

They could not afford to make a second false start so they enlisted one of the very best current producers in the business, Dan Weller, famous for work with Those Damn Crows among others, and taken their time releasing a sophomore album.

Opener ‘Glass Sky’ is one of those that has been road tested live for the last year or so and already become something of an anthem- it opens with the ‘out of the shadows, we’ll be coming home’ chorus’ chanted to a military-style drumbeat, Angelo Tristan’s vocals have a contemporary feel to them, yet the song combines rock guitar with almost danceable grooves like INXS, parts of Def Lep’s ‘Hysteria’ and Robin George’s ill-fated ‘Notorious’ project.

On ‘Original Criminal’ the guitars are heavier and Angelo sounds a little like Seb Bach in the verses. However what has always made Collateral unique among their contemporaries in the broad NWOCR movement is Angelo’s love for a sound that mixes melodic and even country influences –‘ Just One Of These Days’ is a worthy follow up to the likes of ‘Midnight Queen’, coming over as a cross between Tyketto’s mellower moments, Nelson and even Keith Urban.

However the band have still struggled for consistency and I found ‘Teenage Dream’- despite an absolutely splendid guitar solo from Louis Malagodi – and ‘Elysium’, sporting an oddly twangy guitar solo, not especially memorable.

Fortunately what once again weighs in at a short album at only 35 minutes picks up with the remaining four tracks excellent. ‘On The Long Road’ is a country-ish ballad that surely would have been huge on American radio, yet sports a quite beautiful guitar solo and ‘No Place for Love’- another established live favourite- commercial melodic rock at its best with a huge-sounding bank of vocals.

To date the album has been mellower than I expected but the last two tracks represent the heavier direction of this incredibly diverse band. Though the Those Damn Crows-sounding ‘Game Changer’ could perhaps have a stronger tune, it is enlivened by a slick guitar solo, and ‘Final Stand’ distinctively stands out as a modern rocker with a slightly more downtuned riff, yet still with a melodic approach.

It’s not a perfect album, but with at last the sound to match their attitude and song quality, this is the major step forward Collateral needed. ****

Review by Andy Nathan

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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)