chris laney only come out at night

Released: 26 April 2010 Label: Metal Heaven

This is Chris Laneys’ second opus, and I guess it could best be described as Alice Cooper meets Def Leppard. He has the raucous vocal quality of Mr. Fournier, but also uses close harmony vocals like Def Leppard. That doesn’t make for a bad sound, but it does leave you thinking ‘I’ve heard that before’. Of course, you haven’t, it’s just that parts of the songs are a bit clichéd.

Overall, the sound is a solid hard rock sound, without ever getting heavy. All the musicians are performing well, the production values are good, and it all sounds very euro-rock.

The album moves along at a fair old pace, with a kind of grown up hard rock that hints at bad boys, but never getting out of control and with responsibility for their actions. Some albums create an impression that the band are going through the motions, not really enjoying what they are doing, but that can’t be said about this album. There is a real air of enjoyment about this, and a bit of energy to it.

It’s hard to work out the direction of this piece of work. There’s elements of self deprecation (Rockstar), where he’s taking a pop at the wannabees, large chunks of the finest cheddar, underpinned by some pretty decent riffs, and then there’s the Def Leppard-like harmonies that crop up. Then again, maybe they’re just enjoying playing, and when it comes down to it, there’s nothing wrong with that.

by alan Thomson