The Treatment
Running With the Dogs
Spinefarm Records
2014
This must be the sophomore effort for this British quintet that debuted a few years ago, signed by a company that the Classic Rock magazine launched, causing some mediocre amount of modicum about their name. They have just returned through Spinefarm this time, meaning Universal... so they must have done OK. I suppose, being shoved down the throats of the unsuspecting public by the same buzzcocks that have the gull to give 5/10s to classic metal albums, but somehow decide it’s fine to both run a label, be A&R’s, journalists, review albums, all of those things at once. Not to knock off, the Treatment off, completely, these Cambridge lads can rock… and they do so, on their second album... much more than they did in their debut… I’m thinking a more modern Def Leppard crossed with the electrified metallic riffs of AC/DC when they are kicking it... and some really rough and ready vocals something like a bad case of Axl Rose meets Joe Elliot… in the corner of some nightmare 
(well not so bad!)
The problem with “Running With the Dogs” it’s the band thought it was a good idea to go for 18 tracks... + 2 bonuses?! First of all... if you had 10 tracks that counted, 10 tracks would have been all you needed. But fair enough, the guys wanted to try and please the potential fan and offer bang for the buck... so what you get for your buck, is some average production that doesn’t really stand out and could have been the band at their practice place… there’s not “special sound” no identity... no factor X.
There are a few cuts that stand out like the fiery opener “I Bleed Rock+Roll” that also gets acoustically reprised as does... the title track... “Running With the Dogs” another pretty dynamic and anthemic tune... another highlight would be the riffy “Emergency” that could have been lifted from an old Del Lep LP, but that’s about where the good stuff stops… and there are… another 15 tracks to endure, of various quality… from average ie the mediocre ballad “Cloud Across the Sky” to downright piss poor “She’s Too Much” that sounds like a cheap knock off of a well-known tune...
I think that a more focus effort, with fewer songs might have been a slightly better idea... decent band and I can’t put them down... but they just don’t rock my socks off, with really 3 songs and 2 reprises.
Do check ‘em out and if you like British rock more than I do, give ‘em a chance. It’s just that, the British rock that I (grew up to) like, most of these newer bands, wouldn’t be fit to hold a candle to, let alone to boogie, next to it (so to speak)!
(well not so bad!)The problem with “Running With the Dogs” it’s the band thought it was a good idea to go for 18 tracks... + 2 bonuses?! First of all... if you had 10 tracks that counted, 10 tracks would have been all you needed. But fair enough, the guys wanted to try and please the potential fan and offer bang for the buck... so what you get for your buck, is some average production that doesn’t really stand out and could have been the band at their practice place… there’s not “special sound” no identity... no factor X.
There are a few cuts that stand out like the fiery opener “I Bleed Rock+Roll” that also gets acoustically reprised as does... the title track... “Running With the Dogs” another pretty dynamic and anthemic tune... another highlight would be the riffy “Emergency” that could have been lifted from an old Del Lep LP, but that’s about where the good stuff stops… and there are… another 15 tracks to endure, of various quality… from average ie the mediocre ballad “Cloud Across the Sky” to downright piss poor “She’s Too Much” that sounds like a cheap knock off of a well-known tune...
I think that a more focus effort, with fewer songs might have been a slightly better idea... decent band and I can’t put them down... but they just don’t rock my socks off, with really 3 songs and 2 reprises.
Do check ‘em out and if you like British rock more than I do, give ‘em a chance. It’s just that, the British rock that I (grew up to) like, most of these newer bands, wouldn’t be fit to hold a candle to, let alone to boogie, next to it (so to speak)!