Crystal Ball, hailing from Switzerland, have released their 8th album, LifeRider. Their style is good, old-fashioned hard rock, in just the right way.
If you haven't heard of Crystal Ball (like me, before reviewing them), let me tell you that they have toured with U.D.O, Doro and Krokus, and their albums are produced by Stefan Kaufmann (ex-U.D.O, ex-Accept). We're talking high quality German(ic) metal/hard rock here.
While many bands, especially in an “older” genre like hard rock, struggle to keep their sound fresh, Crystal Ball sound just right. The production is splendid, the songs are catchy and make you want to rock out wherever you are, and the album just puts you in a good mood.
Some of the highlights of LifeRider include the opening track “Mayday!”, with its enthusiasm and urgency, “Balls of Steel”, which has all the ingredients for a killer rock/metal song, the power balad “Bleeding” (because, what is a good hard rock album without a power ballad that creeps under your skin), and “Rock of Life”, which has some symphonic elements and a heavier riff.
To conclude: LifeRider by Crystal Ball is a fun and unassuming hard rock album. I'd have thought that hard rock like what I heard on LifeRider hasn't been made since the eighties, but Crystal Ball proved me wrong with their 100% energy album.
Tracklist
- Mayday!
- Eye To Eye
- Paradise
- Balls Of Steel
- Hold Your Flag
- Gods Of Rock
- Take It All
- Bleeding
- Rock Of Life
- Antidote
- LifeRider
- Memory Run
- Sacred Heart
- Sign Of The Southern Cross
- Not Like You
Label: Massacre Records
Website: https://www.facebook.com/crystalballrocks
Score: 7,5/10
