2023 CD Review - Winger - Seven

Winger
Seven
Frontiers Music Srl - 2023
http://www.wingertheband.com

Winger, having officially becoming a quintet after the return to the band's lineup of guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor, have put forth what many critics and reviewers have been calling one of the best albums of their career.

When they started releasing a couple of tracks ahead of the official album release date for Seven, I'd have to say that I would definitely have leaned in that direction based off of those two tracks. But when it came time for me to find a copy of the Seven album for myself, it was surprisingly difficult to do. And that's why it has taken so long to actually write up my own thoughts on the album.

That first single Winger put out from Seven was "Proud Desperado", which is also the opening track on the album. Co-written by singer/bassist Kip Winger (who also produced the album) and noted hit songwriter Desmond Child, there's no denying the commercial vibe and appeal of the song. But what made the song stand out even more is the killer intro to the song and the strong guitar riff threaded throughout the song. It's got the melody and the hook in spades but when you also have the song being a strong rocker at the same time, you know you've got a standout track on your hands.

The 12-track album (the Japanese release has a bonus track being an acoustic version of "Proud Desperado") saw Kip Winger and guitarist Reb Beach write fully half the songs together, with Winger having three solo credits and co-writing one track with guitarist John Roth. This gives the album a nicely blended combination of song styles within the rock genre from which to draw from.

After the hook-laden "Proud Desperado", the song "Heaven's Falling" continued charting the more uptempo side of Winger's music. There's an interesting sound to this number. The main lyrical passages are a bit slower in nature, leaving the more forceful part of the song to its chorus.

"Tears of Blood" moves at a more measured tone at times without sacrificing any noticeable lessening of power. And as the song runs through, the power of the delivery increases. The vocal turn from Kip Winger seems to be more insistently powerful at times. Midway through the song there's a kind of atmospheric break with whispered vocals before the lively uptempo delivery returns.

I had a feeling I was going to like the song "Resurrect Me" just from the guitar riff intro. Fast paced with some serious guitar licks throughout, this one seemed to strike quite the chord with me. Again, I noticed that Kip Winger's vocals were very insistently delivered at certain points in the song. Also, while I'm far from an expert in these matters, I really dug the guitar solo here.

By this point in the album, it's pretty easy to see (or at least it should be) that Winger is on fire musically. A third of the way through the album and they haven't hit a false note even a little bit.

There's an interesting stomp to the music on "Voodoo Fire" that keeps the song on point and that guitar solo, while brief is ear catching. I could say that about the whole song really, though the way the song ends threw me off a little. It kind of felt it took the roar that powered the whole song to that point and reduced it to a whimper.

"Broken Glass" is a ballad but not quite in the same vein as Winger's ballads from the past. During the main sections of the song, you get the kind of gauzy ethereal delivery that immediately echoes everything you know about ballads. The chorus abandons that sound for a slight uptick in tempo and intensity. There's the same kind of lovey-dovey lyrics you could find in any ballad. However, as a noted skeptic about this type of song, I didn't mind the overt empathy employed here. Maybe not my favorite track on Seven but overall it is pretty solid.

A more driving tempo returns on the songs "It's Okay" and "One Light To Burn" but things really get full throttle on the fiery paced "Stick the Knife In and Twist". It struck me that the song has an added bit of viciousness to how the band performed the track. They cut loose on this song and the lyrics are a bit darker that you might expect with lines like "Switchblade lover with a poison kiss / Tattoo 666". What gives the song an additional thrust of quality for me is how they get in and out. The song is pretty short overall and the band doesn't waste a second of the track's length. Definitely one of my personal favorite songs on the album.

The back and forth tempo switches on "Do or Die" make for an interesting mix. You get a more kind of impassioned delivery (particularly on the vocals) in the main sections of the song but when you get to the chorus, the song blows up into more of an all out rocker and that's where it kind of shined a bit brighter for me.

I dug the song "Time Bomb" which has a mid-to-uptempo style for most of the song before getting a bigger rock sound towards the end.

The album closes out with a seven minutes plus track called "It All Comes Back Around". Initially, it was the 2nd song released in advance of the album and I remember everyone I know that was posting about it raving about the song. And you can include me in that group as well. Epic in length and in scope, musically speaking, this song serves as an emotional anchor for the album. There's a number of tempo changes here but Winger doesn't miss a beat at all. Whether slower in nature or more of a directly intense delivery, everyone's individual parts are perfectly blended together to create one hell of an a sonic landscape for the listener's ears. And the guitar playing going on towards the end of the song is amazing!

There's a lot of talk about how Seven is the best album Winger has ever done. I don't know if that's true or not but after my listening sessions, it certainly can be in the debate. There's a lot going on here and Winger has some incredible new songs to add to their legacy. Seven is one hell of a worthy addition to the band's legacy and I know that I am definitely going to be playing this one for a long time to come!