I remember watching Jagged Edge on a support slot two years before they were signed by Polydor and released this album. It’s another one, and they’re done band. After touring to promote the record, they were dropped. Guitarist Mike Gray would bounce back with the band Skin, and Matti Alfonzetti would head back to Sweden to front Skintrade, among others. Fortunately, they left behind this killer forgotten melodic rock gem to remember them by. Britain had a little melodic rock boom going on at the time. FM and Thunder were the forerunners of the boom, and Jagged Edge with a similar sound should have done a whole lot more. They certainly had the songs and management, as they were signed with Rod Smallwood.
Highlights from the album are opener Liar, a very European sounding hard rocker with a nice riff and the chorus is really good. As well, Hell Ain’t A Long Way which has a very earthy blues rock groove, akin somewhat to Thunder. There’s also Smooth Operator, a track that mixes the heavy blues groove with Def Leppard style vocals. And my favourite track Sweet Lorraine has a really cool blues swing to the main groove, plus a really catchy riff and chorus, a winner all the way. Let’s not forget the close out track All Thru The Night. I always believe in going out with a bang, and that’s what they do here.
Perhaps they were ahead of the curve with that earth bluesy groove and if they had kept going, then who knows. A very enjoyable record.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
