Vicious Mary is a new
European Heavy Rock band formed by ELDRITCH members Terence Holler and Sean Henderson.
Vicious Mary cannot be compared with ELDRITCH because
Vicious Mary style is based in the traditional Heavy Rock.
The first track
"Love Or Hate" really sets the record straight.
"Love or Hate" is a total show-off with keyboard solo, fast guitar licks and amazing solos. The track also demonstrates that the 2 guitarists Pete Daniels and BB Nick have studied Eddie Van Halen. According to the press material the band wanted to go back to the sound of Whitesnake,
Europe and
Bon Jovi.
Vicious Mary is not so polished as the mentioned bands mainly because of Terence Holler's raw vocals.
Top Tracks are
"When He Cries" with a great melodic guitar riff and great feel to the chorus. Once again a fantastic guitar solo.
"The Call" is a nice mixture of Heavy guitar combined with keyboard. In general most tracks are up-tempo tracks with great vocal and great guitars. The instrumental track
"Keysage" is a nice break only driven by the bass and a piano.
"Keysage" reminds me a bit about
"Riders on the Storm" by
The Doors and this particular track should be perfect for a movie soundtrack because it is so emotional.
This band has everything a Heavy Rock fan could ask for - Great musicians, stunning vocals, great guitars and a solid production. However If you compare with the before mentioned bands like Whitesnake,
Europe and
Bon Jovi Vicious Mary is lacking some in their songwriting. In my opinion there is no memorable choruses or "sing-alongs", which causes that the album is forgotten after you, have played it. After spinning the CD circa 15 times I do remember some of the choruses but they are not catchy, rather primitive. The construction of the choruses are mainly one line repeated 3 times (
Love Or Hate,
Tell Me Why and
The Call), two lines repeated 2 times (
When He Cries,
E.L.I.S.A and
Indian Giver). The rest of the choruses, with the exception of the ballad
"Crying For You", have similar construction with only little variation. This makes the songs very monotonous.
This is a debut album so
Vicious Mary still have time to adjust their style, which is necessary if they want to be considered in the same league as the previous mentioned bands.
Vicious Mary has got a lot going for them. I cannot praise the guitar work enough, which should appeal to fans of
Dokken etc. However they need some better hooklines and more varied choruses to be promoted to the major league of Hard Rock.
Written by
Michael Thursday, August 22, 2002
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 5.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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