Well, sometimes you do not need to listen to a single note in order to be aware of what’s to come. When I heard about The Defiants I was shocked it featured vocalist extraordinaire Paul Laine, producer & multi-instrumentalist Bruno Ravel (Danger Danger), guitar wiz Rob Marcello (Danger Danger) along with the drummer Van Romaine on its ranks. It’s been a while since Paul has sung in a “proper” band and I was longing for his new music project for quite some time now. Paul is one of my favorite hard rock singers and I’m not only referring to his Danger Danger years but also to his solo ones and not only (see Shugaazer).
It’s true that having Paul and Bruno together on a band woke up memories to the D2 fans who fancy the Danger Danger Laine era, and I’m one of them too. Of course, this ain’t Danger Danger even though it does have elements from the D2 Laine era and how couldn’t it have been so? Hence, take those D2 elements mix em with some modern and also traditional (melodic) hard rock music and you have The Defiants. The songwriting is superb in every part; Paul sings so passionately that had me thinking that this is definitely one of his top 3 vocal performances to date. Bruno, apart from playing the majority of the instruments, he also mixed, mastered and produced the album (it was co-produced by Paul as well). Rob delivers some rather tasteful leads throughout the album and makes the final outcome even more enthralling. The production is contemporary, full and quite dynamic.
The album features 11 tracks plus an intro. “Love and Bullets”, “When the Lights Go Down”, “Waiting on a Heartbeat” & “Last Kiss” take you by storm… there are 4 top-class melodic hard rock pieces, no doubt about it! “Runaway”, “Lil’ Miss Rock‘n’Roll”, “Take Me Back”, “We All Fall Down” & “Underneath the Stars” present (more or less) the kinda “modern side” of the band, without losing their music quality at all. The moody ballad “Save Me Tonight” is simply stunning and very sensational, while “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You” is an astounding touching atmospheric power-ballad… one of the best I’ve listened to the last decade or so.
You won’t listen to an album that features quite a few instant classic tracks in our time but The Defiants managed that with their debut album. This is definitely an album that is worth your time and money and believe that. With each spin you’ll feel even more attached to its wonderful musical atmosphere & lyrics. If you really love hard rock music, then you should absolutely add one of the top hard rock albums of 2016 to your collection. “The Defiants” is a total winner that will end up in numerous “best-of” lists for 2016… it’s already in my list… so sit back and enjoy it!
