EZ Livin
Firestorm
LZ Records/Sony/Sleaszy Rider
2014
23 years later and it’s like no day has ever gone by. I wonder how the mastermind Hans Ziller (Bonfire) felt when he decided to put EZ Livin back on track. The band released its debut album “After the Fire” back in 1991. Then they called it a day. You see EZ Livin was into 80s hard rock music – they started out in 1989 after all – but you see, the early 90s wasn’t a good time for this kind of music. Labels, radios & the TV wanted new blood and they found it on some untalented & tasteless wannabe rockers. But that’s another story.
Anyhow, Hans put EZ Livin together but the line-up has totally changed compared to the one of the 90s. Now there’s Harry Reischmann (Bonfire) on drums, Ronnie Parkes (Tango Down, Seven Witches) on bass, Paul Morris (Rainbow) on keyboards, piano & organ and David Reece (e-Accept, Bangaloire Choir) on vocals. Not bad at all huh?! Moreover, there’s also a guest appearance by the guitarist Chris Lyne (Mother Road, ex-Soul Doctor). The production is crackin’ and the CD was mixed & mastered by Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Edge of Forever etc.).
Musically, EZ Livin are delivering pure hard rock & melodic rock music. Not in the 80s vein like they did on their debut album. Of course, it ain’t the late80s/early90s anymore but that doesn’t mean that the guys do not rock hard on “Firestorm”. On the contrary, Hans honors that (80s) hard rock formula but the sound now is fresher & more updated than in the past. Certainly, you’ll find 80s hard rock bits throughout the album. David Reece gives some fabulous performances besides the other guys to be fair.
In all honesty, I’d sooner the album had more tracks and were a little longer. It contains only 6 new tracks, plus two covers, “Loaded Gun” from Bangalore Choir and “Easy Living” from Uriah Heep plus a “Director’s Cut” version of the wonderful ballad “Let’s Fly Away”. Overall, “Firestorm” is a strong comeback album by a band which never concluded what started back in the 80s and left the stage too early. Let’s hope that now they will have the chance to do all those things they didn’t manage to do back then. If you do fancy the band’s debut and you adore hard rock music then get your hands on “Firestorm”…
Anyhow, Hans put EZ Livin together but the line-up has totally changed compared to the one of the 90s. Now there’s Harry Reischmann (Bonfire) on drums, Ronnie Parkes (Tango Down, Seven Witches) on bass, Paul Morris (Rainbow) on keyboards, piano & organ and David Reece (e-Accept, Bangaloire Choir) on vocals. Not bad at all huh?! Moreover, there’s also a guest appearance by the guitarist Chris Lyne (Mother Road, ex-Soul Doctor). The production is crackin’ and the CD was mixed & mastered by Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Edge of Forever etc.).
Musically, EZ Livin are delivering pure hard rock & melodic rock music. Not in the 80s vein like they did on their debut album. Of course, it ain’t the late80s/early90s anymore but that doesn’t mean that the guys do not rock hard on “Firestorm”. On the contrary, Hans honors that (80s) hard rock formula but the sound now is fresher & more updated than in the past. Certainly, you’ll find 80s hard rock bits throughout the album. David Reece gives some fabulous performances besides the other guys to be fair.
In all honesty, I’d sooner the album had more tracks and were a little longer. It contains only 6 new tracks, plus two covers, “Loaded Gun” from Bangalore Choir and “Easy Living” from Uriah Heep plus a “Director’s Cut” version of the wonderful ballad “Let’s Fly Away”. Overall, “Firestorm” is a strong comeback album by a band which never concluded what started back in the 80s and left the stage too early. Let’s hope that now they will have the chance to do all those things they didn’t manage to do back then. If you do fancy the band’s debut and you adore hard rock music then get your hands on “Firestorm”…