I was a big fan of House Of Lords back in the day and even bought a ticket to see an 'old school' band, (I felt at the time) Scorpions, just to catch the glorious HOL in support. My interest initially stemmed from the Gene Simmons connection. I was never really a fan of Giuffria, they were too limp even for me at the time, well at least the second album was; not keen on the singer's voice either, and apparently neither was Gene Simmons who got hold of Giuffria, got a new singer in (James Christian) and got one of the best drummers I ever saw (Ken Mary) and that's the history. Now here we are on album eight.....

The usual majestic intro is gone and we're pretty much straight into 'Big Money', a mid-paced stomper. 'One Man Down' is one of my favourites from the album, a melancholy acoustic opening which builds into a crescendo with a riff that Jimi Bell does so well. The only thing about this song is the hook is so good it doesn't come early enough in the song or happen often enough! Despite a certain comment made to me recently about this album not having any guitars, well it certainly does and Jimi Bell must be one of the most competent players in any band anywhere.

We get a return of those Greg Giuffria keyboards on 'Someday When' and HOL are possibly one of the last few who can pull this off and still sound somehow contemporary. Christian's voice is a strong as it ever was on 'Searchin' and I love this Zampa blues shuffle on this track. 'Livin The Dream', reminds me of Rainbow's 'Stargazer', more up-tempo but it definitely has that vibe about it, which is no bad way at all. 'Next Time I Hold You' is as great as any ballad HOL have pulled off on any of their previous outings - Damn if this was the Eighties James Christian would be all over MTV with it, next to Tawny and Coverdale! Lovely bit of drumming on the end of 'Run For Your Life' from BJ, what a great drummer and absolutely lovely guy he is!

Really not a duff track here and I can honestly say what a pleasure it is to be reviewing a great album from not only a great band, but a lovely bunch of guys. Having toured Spain with them back in 2006 for the 'World Upside Down' album, I've always had the ultimate respect for a very talented band. Another very worthy release.

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