Two Fires: Ignition

Appealing only to the severely mulleted or those who find REO Speedwagon just a bit too edgy, the AOR pap of Two Fires basically sounds like Journey on a bad day. So yeah, they sound like The Storm, which should make sense because the band consists of Storm frontman Kevin Chalfant and guitarist Josh Ramos. Woo-hoo! With a lineup like that and production values that bring to mind Spencer Proffer and Pasha, Ignition is the perfect tape to throw in when you take off the T-tops of your gold Camaro after watching the latest episode of “Riptide,” and cruise to the arcade to play some Dig Dug or Donkey Kong before heading over to the drive-in to catch the latest Burt Reynolds car racing epic or this week’s Conan-inspired muscleman/sword & sorcery flick. Yeah, too bad it’s 2002 and not 1983, because that’s what this sounds like. Songs like “More Than a Mystery,” “You’re Bringing Me Down,” and “Somewhere Far Away” make one long for the comparative insight and inventiveness of Survivor. I know that AOR is the raison d’etre of Frontiers Records, and I hate to sound like a jerk (well, OK, no I don’t), but honestly, who, in 2002, buys this crap? If I wanna listen to stuff like this, I’ll dig out my old Journey or Night Ranger tapes because those still rule and they take me back to another time of my life. I don’t know what to think when a sound is so stale that the two least-known guys from a forgotten Journey offshoot are at the forefront of the genre.

Added: August 21st 2002
Reviewer: Mark Tinta
Score:
Related Link: Frontiers/Now & Then
Hits: 3827
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]