Sinner: Born To Rock - The Noise Years 1984-1987 (4CD Box Set)

Having already graced us with two albums in the early years of the 80s, German Hard Rock outfit Sinner teamed up with the legendary label from their homeland, Noise Records, and went on to release a quartet of albums before the partnership would be broken. Danger Zone was the first of the four, the line-up of Mat Sinner (who would split much of his time in Sinner over the years with his duties in Primal Fear) on bass and lead vocals, Mick Shirley and SG Stoner on guitars, and Ralf Schulz on drums unleashing a keen balance of commercially savvy hard rock and European metal. Hindsight maybe shows the results to be a little naive in places, but if an amalgam of the music of the time sounds like your thing then an album that pulls influences from Judas Priest and Accept to Dokken should be right up your street. That said, the strongest weapon here is the intensity of the band’s attack and as the staccato burst of “No Place In Heaven� gives way to the rhythmic smash of “Scene Of A Crime� it’s clear to hear just how much this outfit wanted it. Other highlights come in the shape of the energetic riff-totting “Hard, Fast & Loud� or the Judas Priest chant of “Razor Blade�, but in reality, all of Danger Zone hits with a real and believable authority that now makes it all the more bizarre that the album basically fell under the radar. (4/5)

Touch Of Sin followed a year later, Sinner and Stoner now joined by on and off Accept man Herman Frank (also of Victory) on guitars and Bernie van der Graaf on drums (also fleetingly of Victory), the follow up album coming with an affliction that graced quite a few releases in this band’s catalogue, namely awful artwork. In terms of style there were many similarities to the debut, although for my money it was clear that a slightly more polished sound was being aimed at. As is often the case, what that actually resulted in was a slight watering down of what had made Sinner so interesting in the first place. However, with “Emerald� cleverly melding some Maiden to those more obvious Priest tones, when the album catches fire it burns defiantly. The mid-paced “The Storm Broke Loose� reveals some of the weaknesses in Sinner’s otherwise convincing vocals, but it’s when this outfit truly rocked that they really rolled, “Hand Of Fate� showing that this lot could do mid-paced if it came with more bite, while “Shout� mines that Dokken influence to great effect once more. However, with “Bad Girl� landing unevenly somewhere between Scorpions and Quiet Riot, it wasn’t all quite plain sailing (3.5/5). Here 3 bonus tracks are added but with them all being extended versions of songs from the main album, while it’s good to hear them, calling them essential would be quite a stretch.

Keeping up their album a year release schedule, big parping keyboards announced Comin’ Out Fighting in 1986, and the opening cut “Hypnotized� revealed an even more obviously commercial sound. The revolving door was still in operation, Frank and Stoner gone and in their places arriving Mathias ‘Don’ Dieth and Angel G Schleifer as the new twin-axe-attack. However, introducing the pair in a song that until its solo basically neutered the fret forays, was an odd decision. For me, the shift in style didn’t really sound all that natural, a band that hit home like they wanted to rock so hard they would be made of metal, all too pliable as they added a lighter edge to their backing vocals that screamed ‘please make me a hit’, with the likes of “Age Of Rock� clearly tempered in its broadside. Add in the silliness of the sub-Accept meets Keel of “Germany Rocks�, or the almost Seventh Son-lite Maiden like “Playing With Fire� and that Comin’ Out Fighting offers a rather confused punch should be little surprise, with the whole endeavour feeling like an unneeded compromise. (3/5)

The one constant for Sinner during this time seemed to be change, so that for ‘87s Dangerous Charm another two guitarists made their bow should be no shock, Andy Susemihl (UDO and (ironically) David Reece) and Armin Muecke now the fret force looking to fire Sinner to fame and fortune. Oddly, that left Dangerous Charm, landing like a commercially minded Judas Priest reimagining Turbo as an AOR monster recorded by Meat Loaf. The results were in part a step back in the right direction, “Concrete Jungle�, while confusing early fans who were looking for some metal were their rock, having you singing along as you punched the air, but by the time you reached “Nobody Rocks Like You� you were kind of left shaking your head. Here Mat Sinner duets with Jacqui Virgil, who does a very passable Tina Turner, but she’s the only thing about that track that comes out on top. From there, “Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight� makes Bon Jovi sound like a bristling heavy metal act, the synths gleefully aping “Livin’ On A Prayer� but with an even weaker slap. In the end it comes across as some metal cabaret stage show schtick that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. And then “Fight The Fight� suddenly turns round and steamrollers you with a pounding beat and howling vocals. From there “Back In My Arms� turns things back around yet agin with big ‘whoooah-oo-oooooooh� chorus shouts, plinky-plonky keys and the return of Virgil’s co-vocals. It all makes for a very uneven mix indeed (2.5/5). I’ll qualify my thoughts by adding that I absolutely love melodic hard rock and AOR from this era, but for me, Sinner miss that mark more than they hit it, especially with Mat’s vocals not really 100% suited to the style. This release also includes the 1994 CD reissue bonus track of “Last Dance�, which actually outshines some of the cuts that made the original running order.

Born To Rock - The Noise Years 1984-1987 is a very interesting collection of albums from a band who have stood the test of time. Arguably the first outing contained here is as good as anything Sinner have put out in subsequent years, but the four releases collected also illustrate some of their shakiest offerings. That these extremes fall into such a short period of time in terms of when they were originally released makes for an intriguing, if somewhat unsteady journey. In fact, I’d go as far as to suggest that if you played Danger Zone back to back with Dangerous Charm, you’d be hard pressed to spot that they were the same band at all. That said, all four have something to recommend about them, even if one or two have more of those moments than others.

Track Listing
DISC ONE - Danger Zone 1. Danger Zone 2. No Place In Heaven 3. Scene Of A Crime 4. Lupo Manaro 5. Fast, Hard & Loud 6. The Shiver 7. Razor Blade 8. Shadow In The Night 9. Wild Wings 10. Rattlesnake 11. Danger II

DISC TWO - Touch Of Sin 1. Born To Rock 2. Emerald 3. Bad Girl 4. Shout 5. The Storm Broke Loose 6. Out Of Control 7. Too Late To Run Away 8. Hand Of Fate 9. Masquerade 10. Open Arms 11. Fast Decision* 12. Knife In My Heart* 13. Out Of Control (Heavy Extended Version)** 14. Born To Rock (Extended Version)*** 15. No Place In Heaven (Extended Version)*** * 1994 CD reissue bonus tracks ** ‘Out of Control’ 12� track *** ‘Born To Rock’ 12� tracks

DISC THREE - Comin’ Out Fighting 1. Hypnotised 2. Faster Than Light 3. Comin’ Out Fighting 4. Age Of Rock 5. Rebel Yell 6. Lost In A Minute 7. Don’t Tell Me ( That The Love Is Gone) 8. Germany Rocks 9. Playing With Fire 10. Madhouse

DISC FOUR - Dangerous Charm 1. Concrete Jungle 2. Knife In My Heart 3. Dangerous Charm 4. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 5. Nobody Rocks Like You 6. Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight 7. Fight The Fight 8. Back In My Arms 9. Gipsy 10. Desperate Heart 11. Last Dance* * 1994 CD reissue bonus track

Added: April 24th 2023
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Sinner Born To Rock @ Cherry Red
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Language: english

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