Twin guitars, melodic vocals and the spirit of THIN LIZZY, WISHBONE ASH, SHIVA, UFO, TRIUMPH, PAT TRAVERS,early SCORPIONS alive and kicking. The band is tight and focus on high octane melodic heavy rock as they do at "Lonely nights" a song that could be easily among the best at the UFO setlist with a great melodic line.HIGH SPIRITS have the advantage of being more than a retro band , they have songwriting skills that let them be competitive and contemporary based on the great moments of the Heavy rock past.This Chicago based one man band, achieves more than others with more complete line up haven't done in years. "Lonely nights" is a great mix of 80s Hard rock and NWOBHM reminiscent of DEMON in their prime time with some FM touches and yes it rocks. Chris Black is a gifted composer and performer, guitarist , bass player, drummer, a one man band that has a clear vision and serves it, far better than Yngwie Malmsteen who tries that in the most disgraceful way, deteriorating his bandmates. Black has chosen to be on his own and sets the wheels in motion without bar fights and disagreements.
"Anything you need" is a prime time, heavy metal song full of NWOBHM high octane riffs and the second most important thing for HIGH SPIRITS, a great, high tone melodic voice, that still rocks instead of making operatic games. The album is full of catchy tunes, like "Loving you" and Black shows his great songwriting skills from NWOBHM to West Coast AOR elements, he blends everything in his album with some great guitar playing and riffing that makes the song instantly recognizable and irresistible.There also the more epic, lyrical songs like "Please don't leave me behind" with its metalic THIN LIZZY celtic feeling, a more US version i must add. Early SCORPIONS can also leave their mark at "Memories" but it only echoes in again a great melodic heavy metal song. "Good night" is another electrified riff driven melodic heavy rock song that closes this album with a chorus reminiscent of NFO melodic charm.
The album is an instant winner and also a grower as its multilayer songwriter and performance reveals more and more at every listening. A real winner for all the friends of classic melodic heavy rock.
8.5
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