Reds'Cool: Press Hard

Record companies like to try to both use hyperbole and association to give the impression that their acts are more successful/ well-known/impressive than they actually may be. To whit these gems from Reds'Cool's people:

"After the amazing success of their album Bad Story and sharing the stage with genre heavyweights like Accept, Gotthard, Joe Lynn Turner, Whitesnake, W.A.S.P., Thin Lizzy, UFO, Black Star Riders, Alcatrazz, Gorky Park, Doro Pesch, Royal Hunt, Kingdom Come, Lordi, Grave Digger, and Lake Of Tears, Reds'Cool proved to be the new hopeful rock act from Russia." Did I miss the amazing success? I seem to remember the album being somewhat of a Whitesnake-lite effort.

"In 2013, their second album Bad Story was produced and mixed by studio wiz Michael Wagener (Dokken, Accept, Mötley Crüe, Great White, Metallica, Alice Cooper, W.A.S.P., Poison, Stryper, White Lion, etc.)" Just because Michael Wagener has worked with the named artists it doesn't necessarily mean that Reds'Cool are of the same calibre and the insinuation does them no favours.

There's precious little wrong with Press Hard apart from an aching lack of originality, "Brand New Start" for instance sounds so much like Gotthard with Steve Lee it hurts – Reds'Cool vocalist Slava Spark is a vocal doppelganger for the late Swiss front man it is uncanny, just witness "No More" for proof. At their best ("Strangers Eyes") the band possibly live up to their website's tagline ("Uncompromissing Hard-Rock band from Saint-Petersburg, Russia,") but at the other end of the scale there's nothing here that hasn't been done better before.

Track Listing:
1 Dangerous One 03:48
2 My Way 03:49
3 The Way I Am 05:10
4 Brand New Start 04:02
5 Strangers Eyes 05:22
6 Call Me 05:07
7 One Night 04:06
8 Love Behind 04:55
9 No More 04:53

Added: September 2nd 2015
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1809
Language: english

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