Hailing from York in England, this is MainEEAxe’s second album and for anyone with a good memory they used to be called Trans Am. MainEEaxe are one of those bands that should have done a lot more, as this album kicks ass.
The music is driven hard by the twin guitars of Zeff Stewart and Grant Kirkhope, obviously taking on board the success of US bands like Van Halen. Rock Is The Word gets things under way in fine style with a riff heavy rocker and a superb guitar sound very high in the mix. The Score gets guitar heavy right from the get go and it is my favourite track. Going For Gold is more melodic rock, but again that killer guitar sound hits hard. Big double kicks pound hard before the VH style guitar intro blows in for the arrival of Infatuation. Great tune! Side 1 comes to a close with Ride The Storm, a big fat chord riffing melodic rocker.
Those high gain guitars rip into Side 2 with stomp rocker Get Up Get Down; a great fist pumping tune. Alone Again is next and it’s power ballad time, but at least the guitars are still set to crunch, especially on the solo. Normal service is resumed with Gimme Your Love, an uptempo NWOBHM sounding groover. The album close out with The Best Is Yet To Come, a big Kiss style anthem.
They didn’t do a whole bunch after this and disappeared. Shame, as this a great record.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
