Tygers Of Pan Tang
Tygers of Pan Tang
Mighty Music
2016
The Tygers are a band that has always remained quite relevant with the whole melodic rock/metal thing, always coming up with the goods and releasing a good amount of great albums, no matter who was in the band – and a couple of very notable people have in fact been through their ranks (like Jess Cox and John Sykes) through all these years.
After almost being put to rest at one point, Rob Weir decided to put the band back together and after some ups and down and slightly questionable lineups, he managed to secure a good vocalist in Jacopo Meille, an Italian chap, who’s been with the band for more than ten years now and who found another long term member in drummer Craig Ellis whose been banging the drums since 2000. Gavin Gray (ex-Blietzkrieg and ex-Almighty) has been around since 2012’s “Ambush” on bass and he’s sticking around with the only new member being Micky Crystal, who came on board in 2013.
I started listening to this album, just after reviewing the vapid mess that the new Bon Jovi album is and in many ways it was a breath of fresh air. I’d be probably a little exaggerating if I said that this is the best thing the band has done since the mid-80s and would be discrediting a few pretty good songs they have written since, but this album tops “Ambush” as the best album they’ve done with Jacopo, who know sounds completely at ease behind the mic and it’s just the groove, the sound, the songs and the swagger that makes these songs work.
“Only the Brave” is probably one of the best melodic songs of the year; you’ll never hear if you’ve got your hand buried in your ass, and only checking out albums by your 3-4 favorite bands, no matter if the said bands haven’t done a good song/album in years. Fan-friggin tastic and the best Tygers have sounded in a while, hell this is on par with certain songs on the “Wreckage” which at that point in time was seen as a “decline” but since has grown in a bit of an underground-soft rock sensation.
“Dust” is heavier, but smooth and melodic, in a way that’s alluring with a helluva of a modern chorus, which however works wonders.
“Glad Rags” is pure rock ‘n roll, but done with lors of conviction, such that a bunch of 20 year old might have had. Wowza.
“Never Give In” has a very primal riff that would probably fit in one of the early albums… hell it’s even probably heavier than that, quite a claustrophobic album; I’d say imagine Tygers pulling a bit of an atmosphere like Priest’s “Nightcrawler” but in their own way… it’ suffers a bit chorus wise, but the pre-chorus really counter-balances that. And dat solo. Wicked cool…
And as you might have guessed by the title, “The Reason Why” is a “ballad”. It’s a little off-putting after a balls out heavy song, but as soon as you sink into it… it’s pretty much OK, if not a little too much like INXS, a bit too poppy, when by its build you’re made to expect a power ballad to erupt at some point (the solo has that vibe – but only that)…
“Do it Again” is about taking a look back in the past – and saying that the band enjoyed it’s crazy early days and would do it again – as they are… it’s a fun, rock pride song that doesn’t sound ridiculous, which is the case with a lot of these “rock/metal” anthems. And what a neat solo mr Weir.
“I Got the Music in Me” echoes the same sentiment and all, but it’s a little funkier and while it’s good, it does feel a little out of place, but not as much as to put you off completely. Yeah, I’d say again I felt as if I was listening to an INXS b-side? Not bad, but…
“Praying for a Miracle” is another ballad, which works better than the previous one, still not hitting the bullseye, since it needed a little more “power” in the chorus, a bit more passion, but it gets the chorus quite right and Weir really delivers a beautiful solo, which ups the song single handedly.
“Blood Red Sky” (raises an eyebrow) had me waiting for some metal, but served up a warm cup of metallicized “Europe” sort of rock, with a playful boisterous main riff that works well. Wish Europe sounded like that in fact. I’d like them a lot more. The chorus is a little questionable, but not to the point of being “bad”.
“Angel in Disguise” is a little under two minutes, and initially I thought it was gonna be an instrumental, but it turns out to be a voice and acoustic, simple ballad that works out OK… but let’s say the ballads on this album are “good” but not “great” (ie instead of fading out, a crescendo in the closing vocal phrase” would have worked better, in terms of dramatic effect)…
“The Devil You Know” is better than the one you don’t… but I have to wonder, who are these Tygers guys anyway?! They rock for sure. It’s a nice enough conclusion to the album, I must say, but again not “that” song that you’ll remember, that will get stuck in your head for weeks, like the opener is for instance.
The whole album is dragged down a bit overall by a number of songs that are not exactly as good as the best ones on the album, but still compared to the absolute dross that some other “yesterday’s heroes” are putting out, it feels like and is a mini triumph… of sorts.
After almost being put to rest at one point, Rob Weir decided to put the band back together and after some ups and down and slightly questionable lineups, he managed to secure a good vocalist in Jacopo Meille, an Italian chap, who’s been with the band for more than ten years now and who found another long term member in drummer Craig Ellis whose been banging the drums since 2000. Gavin Gray (ex-Blietzkrieg and ex-Almighty) has been around since 2012’s “Ambush” on bass and he’s sticking around with the only new member being Micky Crystal, who came on board in 2013.
I started listening to this album, just after reviewing the vapid mess that the new Bon Jovi album is and in many ways it was a breath of fresh air. I’d be probably a little exaggerating if I said that this is the best thing the band has done since the mid-80s and would be discrediting a few pretty good songs they have written since, but this album tops “Ambush” as the best album they’ve done with Jacopo, who know sounds completely at ease behind the mic and it’s just the groove, the sound, the songs and the swagger that makes these songs work.
“Only the Brave” is probably one of the best melodic songs of the year; you’ll never hear if you’ve got your hand buried in your ass, and only checking out albums by your 3-4 favorite bands, no matter if the said bands haven’t done a good song/album in years. Fan-friggin tastic and the best Tygers have sounded in a while, hell this is on par with certain songs on the “Wreckage” which at that point in time was seen as a “decline” but since has grown in a bit of an underground-soft rock sensation.
“Dust” is heavier, but smooth and melodic, in a way that’s alluring with a helluva of a modern chorus, which however works wonders.
“Glad Rags” is pure rock ‘n roll, but done with lors of conviction, such that a bunch of 20 year old might have had. Wowza.
“Never Give In” has a very primal riff that would probably fit in one of the early albums… hell it’s even probably heavier than that, quite a claustrophobic album; I’d say imagine Tygers pulling a bit of an atmosphere like Priest’s “Nightcrawler” but in their own way… it’ suffers a bit chorus wise, but the pre-chorus really counter-balances that. And dat solo. Wicked cool…
And as you might have guessed by the title, “The Reason Why” is a “ballad”. It’s a little off-putting after a balls out heavy song, but as soon as you sink into it… it’s pretty much OK, if not a little too much like INXS, a bit too poppy, when by its build you’re made to expect a power ballad to erupt at some point (the solo has that vibe – but only that)…
“Do it Again” is about taking a look back in the past – and saying that the band enjoyed it’s crazy early days and would do it again – as they are… it’s a fun, rock pride song that doesn’t sound ridiculous, which is the case with a lot of these “rock/metal” anthems. And what a neat solo mr Weir.
“I Got the Music in Me” echoes the same sentiment and all, but it’s a little funkier and while it’s good, it does feel a little out of place, but not as much as to put you off completely. Yeah, I’d say again I felt as if I was listening to an INXS b-side? Not bad, but…
“Praying for a Miracle” is another ballad, which works better than the previous one, still not hitting the bullseye, since it needed a little more “power” in the chorus, a bit more passion, but it gets the chorus quite right and Weir really delivers a beautiful solo, which ups the song single handedly.
“Blood Red Sky” (raises an eyebrow) had me waiting for some metal, but served up a warm cup of metallicized “Europe” sort of rock, with a playful boisterous main riff that works well. Wish Europe sounded like that in fact. I’d like them a lot more. The chorus is a little questionable, but not to the point of being “bad”.
“Angel in Disguise” is a little under two minutes, and initially I thought it was gonna be an instrumental, but it turns out to be a voice and acoustic, simple ballad that works out OK… but let’s say the ballads on this album are “good” but not “great” (ie instead of fading out, a crescendo in the closing vocal phrase” would have worked better, in terms of dramatic effect)…
“The Devil You Know” is better than the one you don’t… but I have to wonder, who are these Tygers guys anyway?! They rock for sure. It’s a nice enough conclusion to the album, I must say, but again not “that” song that you’ll remember, that will get stuck in your head for weeks, like the opener is for instance.
The whole album is dragged down a bit overall by a number of songs that are not exactly as good as the best ones on the album, but still compared to the absolute dross that some other “yesterday’s heroes” are putting out, it feels like and is a mini triumph… of sorts.