Having been formed back in the glory year of 1984 by powerhouse drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne), King Kobra were critically acclaimed and loved by fans alike. With riffs and licks spewing out of Mick Sweda's fingers like an unstoppable freak of nature and soaring vocals from Mark Free, touring the world with the likes of Kiss, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Ted Nugent, Queensryche and Autograph won them even more fans....However, after performing the theme song from the awesome 80's flick 'Iron Eagle', they disbanded in 1988 and each member went on to even bigger success with the likes of Bulletboys (Sweda), Blue Murder (Appice), Unruly Child (Free) and W.A.S.P. (Johnny Rod). But 2010 saw the classic 1985 line up reunited, with Paul Shortino replacing Mark/Marcie Free on vocals, to record one hell of a great album.

Kicking a new ass is opener 'Rock This House' which new boy Paul Shortino has no problem in doing; to these ears the band have never sounded fresher than what's on display here. With a rhythm section as strong as Appice and Rod, the foundations are set in concrete and the guitars of Sweda and David Michael-Phillips rip one's ears a new one. 'Turn Up The Good Times' is a track reminiscent of the typical MTV's 80s fodder which by no means is bad but nothing amazing, however next track 'Live Forever' is almost like a master class in how to write the perfect AOR song; Now I've never been one to indulge in text speak but I'm sure this song is what OMG was invented for!

Next up is the almost 'After Midnight' - Fastway ('Trick Or Treat' OST) sounding 'Tear Down The Walls' and with a riff that good it would be criminal to dismiss this song; it's the kind of song that begs to be played with a couple of Marshalls behind you in an arena with the sun going down in the distance... Seriously it's great!

Not taking anything away from the band but, with the riff like the one on 'This Is How We Roll' sounding a lot like the riff of Kingdom Come's 'Do Ya Like It', I really don't want to ask the question but it keeps coming up.... Whilst not being totally original the band have still delivered a great album.

All in all, a very good album but let down by relying too heavily on their peers... 

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