After releasing three albums, culminating in Alibi which was released back in ’85, Vandenberg were put to sleep apparently over and done while Adrian was with Whitesnake and the brief project Moon Kings. So, I was quite surprised when Adrian resurrected the band with Ronnie Romero on vocals (well, for this album anyway).
Adopting a more harder edged approach this time around, but still with a ton of melody, this is a great record that went by largely unnoticed when it appeared in 2020. Adrian obviously picked up some influence from Mr. Coverdale as there are a couple of tunes that could have been on any Whitesnake record. Hell And High Water being one of them is drenched in that heavy soulful blues groove and Ronnie sings those songs so well. My favourite tune is Freight Train, a straight up groove rocker with a dirty killer riff and a hook and chorus to match.
A welcome return from Vandenberg with a superb production job from Bob Marlette makes this a worthy addition to the collection.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
