Michael Sweet
One Sided War
Rat Pak Records
2016
“One Sided War” is Michael Sweet’s seventh solo album and eighth overall release, one that seems to step up the game slightly from 2014’s “I’m not Your Suicide” with Sweet apparently forever involved in some project be it Stryper or something else (ie Sweet + Lynch)…
It nicely seems to combine the melodic side of Sweet with a somewhat heavier tone, as current Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra along with Ethan Brosh (a well-respected East Coast shredder) handle the axes, while Evanescence’s drummer Will Hunt and bassist John O’Boyle take care of the rhythm business.
The opening trio of “Bizarre”, the title track, as well as “Can’t Take This Life” contains some of the most memorable moments of the album, but the album doesn’t lose steam, just gets a bit more diverse later on, but still songs like “Only You” and “Comfort Zone” seem to be relative highlights, with no particular song registering as filler, other than a somewhat UN-necessary alternative take on “Can’t Take This Life” as a duet with an up and coming 16 year old miss, by the name of Moriah Formica that thankfully has a much better voice that Dave Mustaine’s progeny, Electra, with who Sweet duet-ed on the previous album. “One Sided War” is probably a little more patchy that “Not Your Suicide” but not by much and it’s still fairly solid to not dismiss altogether. Obviously fans of Stryper will probably get the biggest kick out of this, but it can appeal to other “classic” metal fans as well.
It nicely seems to combine the melodic side of Sweet with a somewhat heavier tone, as current Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra along with Ethan Brosh (a well-respected East Coast shredder) handle the axes, while Evanescence’s drummer Will Hunt and bassist John O’Boyle take care of the rhythm business.
The opening trio of “Bizarre”, the title track, as well as “Can’t Take This Life” contains some of the most memorable moments of the album, but the album doesn’t lose steam, just gets a bit more diverse later on, but still songs like “Only You” and “Comfort Zone” seem to be relative highlights, with no particular song registering as filler, other than a somewhat UN-necessary alternative take on “Can’t Take This Life” as a duet with an up and coming 16 year old miss, by the name of Moriah Formica that thankfully has a much better voice that Dave Mustaine’s progeny, Electra, with who Sweet duet-ed on the previous album. “One Sided War” is probably a little more patchy that “Not Your Suicide” but not by much and it’s still fairly solid to not dismiss altogether. Obviously fans of Stryper will probably get the biggest kick out of this, but it can appeal to other “classic” metal fans as well.