2012 Remainder Reviews - Pride of Lions - Immortal

[TageRyche]

Pride of Lions
Immortal
Frontiers Records - 2012
http://www.aprideoflions.com

The fourth studio album (fifth overall) from Pride of Lions finds the duo of Jim Peterik and Toby Hitchcock roaring back with another solid collection of melodic rock with their by now trademarked trade off on vocals.

Peterik wrote all the material on the album save one song which he co-wrote. The group then lined up a revolving cast of recurring musicians to flesh out the tracks including Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy, who appears on 6 of the 11 tracks.

The album opens up with the title track which is a quick up tempo number designed to get the blood flowing. It is a decent enough song but in the beginning of the song I thought the lyrics came off as a bit disjointed.

The first four songs on the disc initially had me wondering if the entire album was going to be a mis-step for the group. I've loved their three previous studio releases and didn't want to find myself in the position of hating this disc.

The track "Delusional" is a bit heavy handed in the lyrics and video (see the clip below), but the message of letting people follow their dreams instead of crushing them is a good one. "Shine On" starts off with a power ballad opening but picks the pace up as it finishes up.

The first really good track for me was "Everything That Money Can't Buy". The love song's vocals are a bit overwrought but as someone who thinks the J. Geils Band song "Love Stinks" should be a personal motto, I did find myself really enjoying the track.

The guitar lines and up tempo nature of "Coin of the Realm" were superb.

When I first saw the song title "Vital Signs", I thought this might be some kind of acknowledgment by Peterik towards his days in the band Survivor. A bit simple-minded of me I know, but given that Vital Signs was one of that group's biggest albums, can you really blame me?

While it wasn't the case, both that song and "If It Doesn't Kill Me" were two solid rocking tracks.

"Are You The Same Girl" is more of a mid tempo vibe with lyrics that waffle between a lover wondering where things went wrong while at the same time coming off as a bit judgement filled as well.

Normally the albums I listen to seem to end with a track that ends the CD on a whimper instead of a roar. The situation was reversed on Immortal though. While there were other songs over the course of the disc that I liked, once I heard "Ask Me Yesterday" I realized that the preceding ten songs all led (or fed) into this one. It is the single best song on the album and easily one of my favorite rocking tracks from any Pride of Lions release.

Jim Peterik seems to have a really positive outlook on life or at least tries to convey that idea in his lyrics. Given my cynical outlook on things, you'd think that I would not enjoy that ceaseless positivity. But in the hands of a master craftsman like Peterik, songs come alive. They are further enlivened by the outstanding (if sometimes oversold) vocal contributions from Toby Hitchcock.

Immortal may have, to my ears at least, started off a bit weaker than previous albums, but closed strong and over the length of the disc reaffirms the group is one of the stronger entities releasing melodic rock albums these days.

GRADE: B PLUS

[RJhog (Admin)]

Nice review. I'm not feeling that song Delusional though.

[Jon]

Wow, this is a pretty bad song. I'm sorry but this is just BAD. Nice review though but listening to this one song makes me want to never ever hear anything from this band never ever ever ever again.

[RJhog (Admin)]

I forgot to comment that I also checked out the youtube clip for Ask Me Yesterday.  That's a much better song than Delusional.

[TageRyche]

Glad to hear that you liked it.