This is the fantastic first album by this very British sounding hard rock combo from Holland. That’s obviously what Coverdale heard as well before recruiting old Adrian into the Whitesnake camp. The single, Burning Heart, did really well in the US as it reached number 39 – surprisingly better than the UK. Named after mainman and guitar whizz, Adrian Vandenberg, the band play superb hard rock with great melodies, hooks, and some superb playing.
The opening track, Your Love Is In Vain, sums the band up in one song really: fantastic melody and hook, coupled with a killer riff and superb playing with that very British blues approach. Adrian does show his EVH style chops on the intro to Wait with the acoustic solo intro. The aforementioned, Burning Heart, has that Whitesnake vibe and I can see how it did well in the US. A slight homage to Hendrix at the intro, to the uptempo rocker Ready For You is really cool. The blues is alive and well in the track, Too Late, with its fast shuffle groove and nice riff as the speed increases as the track develops. Nothing To Lose reminds me of Down To Earth-era Rainbow with the melody and chord progression. A great riff to Lost In The City is up next, before we get to album closer, Out In The Streets, which is the fastest track on the record with a killer drum intro and riff.
Well that’s the lot campers, and they would release another 2 studio albums and that was it. Shame really, as they were a great band.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
