Northern Irish rockers return in form with their new album. Having their own ups and downs, THE ANSWER are far from the promising band they were when they first appeared. Now they're seasoned musicians with solo albums (Cormac Neeson), a hiatus and more mature on what they want and what they can. What they want is to create good music, what they can do is be accepted among those who like real music and not following trends. I saw THE ANSWER opening for ACDC a decade back and the audience was just foolin around. Now the band has the maturity to do their own thing aiming to the right people, even if their fanbase won't be the same with ACDC or AEROSMITH.
The opener "Sundowner" is a mesmerizing tune with excellent slide guitar work that dominates the aural landscape. But the new THE ANSWER are not afraid to experiment and widen their horizons, as they do at "Blood brother" part traditional blues rock part contemporary alt rock, a mix for those who like their rock, groovy, rhythmic and edge."California rust" is the ANSWER as we know them, balsy, edge Hard rock with great hooks at the choruses. "Want you to love me" is another groovy monster that demands , i want you to listen to me, with a great vocal performance by Neeson passionate and full of frustration at the same time.Then comes the piece de resistance of the album "Oh Cherry" a tribal, rock n roll, soul infused song that call everybody on the dance floor with this groove.The more uptempo tunes follow in the form of "No salvation" and "Cold heart" great riff oriented melodic Hard rock songs. "All together" dives deeper in the 70s groove with the all together choruses, the organ and the rhythmic breaks that come straight from the AC/DC -AEROSMITH songbook. "Always alright" is a mid tempo , 70s favoured ballad where what stands out is Neeson's vocal delivery with the whiskey soaked, honey covered vocals balancing between edgy and mellow in the finest way and some distinctive 70s organ giving the extra touch to the song.
THE ANSWER returned with the album we all hoped for. 70s influenced but with their own stamp all over the place. For those who are into retro/revivalists etc rock this is a great choice from a seasoned band who looks younger contenders like RIVAL SONS and GRETA VAN FLEET in the eyes.
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