A quick history lesson about Snakes in Paradise for the uninitiated; They released their self-titled debut album produced by the late Brett Walker in 1993. The band’s second album, Garden of Eden followed in 1999, an album whose sound was inspired by Whitesnake’s more universally popular material i.e. their late 80s material, not the bluesier earlier stuff. After the release of Dangerous Love in 2002, the band sadly called it a day. Singer Stefan Berggren wound up working with Company of Snakes (a band formed by former Whitesnake members Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, and Neil Murray), Lee Kerslake (ex-Uriah Heep, Ozzy Osbourne) before Snakes in Paradise reconvened a couple of years ago and ultimately signed to Frontiers Records.
Clearly in many ways Whitesnake remains a key template for the band and one can absolutely imagine "Angelin" (the ballad) with a model draped all over a car whilst the band pull shapes in front of a big wind machine but it’s not all retro-style stuff here. At times the band go all west coast, in fact within the AOR/melodic rock genres most bases are well and truly ticked. I particularly enjoyed the restrained "After the Fire Is Gone" which has some gorgeous keyboard fills throughout. All in ll, this is a pretty classy release and return to the fray.
Track Listing:
- Wings Of Steel
- Silent Sky
- Will You Remember Me
- Angelin
- Living Without Your Love
- If I Ever See The Sun Again
- After The Fire Is Gone
- Love On The Other Side
- Things
- Liza
- Life`s Been Good To You & Me
- Step Into The Light