Perfect balance --- Balance of power --- 2001 (Massacre Records)
Balance of what? Never heard of them? Not surprising, as Balance of Power, despite going now for over 14 years, are less well-known in their native UK than they are in Japan and most of Asia. With five decent albums under their belt, and making music of this calibre it really is a shame that more people don't know about them, but I'll attempt to educate you, my readers, here, through the medium of what is perhaps their best album, 2001's “Perfect balance”.
Think a (much) heavier Journey, a metal Asia or a lighter Iron Maiden, and you'll be somewhere within the framework of what this band can do. Kicking off with the stormer “Higher than the sun”, it's the frenetic keyboards of Leon Lawson and the twin guitar attack of Pete Southern and Bill Yates that pull you in, but it's when vocalist Lance King opens his mouth that you really take notice. A graduate of the Bruce Dickinson School of Power Vocal, his voice grabs you and shakes you about like a pitbull going for the throat. There are definitely similarities to the “Air-Raid Siren” in his vocal delivery, and no doubt he spent his formative years spinning Maiden albums on his stereo, and yet King manages to stamp his own style and signature on the music his band creates, so he's not just a Dickinson wannabe or copy.
The main thing about BoP is that they are without a doubt melodic. Many metal bands make the mistake of thinking you only have to be loud, or fast --- or loud AND fast! --- to be a good band, but I've always preferred to be able not only to discern what the singer in any band is singing about, but to be able to hum the tune --- try doing that to Motorhead! So in a way I guess Balance of Power are a mix of melodic metal and AOR --- perhaps AOM? Anyway, they're a joy to listen to, and really should be better known.
“Higher than the sun” is a long track --- just over seven minutes, how's that for an opener? --- and no sooner has it snapped off than we're treated to another opus, as “Shelter me”, one of the best tracks from the album, gets into gear. King's voice really comes into its own here, running from one end of the scale to the other, with the super-tight band painting a fantastic melody behind him, a song which is so catchy it really should have been in the charts. The bombast of Lionel Hicks's drumming knits with the spot-on bass work from Tony Ritchie (hah! Imagine if they switched first names?) and keeps the track well on course, as the next offering keeps up the pressure. “”Fire dance” is a “Metal-march” in the tradition of “The last in line” by Dio or “Open fire” by Journey, with a fine solo by, well, either Pete or Bill, no way to know which, and slams into “One voice”, another slice of absolutely radio-worthy commercial rock/metal, with steamhammer drumming from Hicks and stabbing guitar from the guys pulling it along. The melody on the chorus could easily be Journey, Styx or even Europe or Bon Jovi, with a great keyboard solo to boot, but like every other track on this album it's carried by the powerful and distinctive voice of Lance King.
Rather surprisingly there are no ballads at all on “Perfect balance”, not even a real slow song. In that respect I suppose nitpickers could be excused for pointing out that the album is not a “perfect balance”, as all the songs are hard rockers, but it's a small imperfection in what otherwise is an album that really lives up in all other respects to its title. The mood slows slightly for “Pleasure room”, but it's more a hard-crunching rocker in the mould of Heart's “Bad animals” or Ten's “Spellbound”, even if it does feature some fine piano by Hicks as well as the obligatory guitar solo. Things continue more or less as they began right through to the end of the album, with “Searching for the truth” powering things out and recalling bands like Glass Tiger and Night Ranger.
It's been six years now since Balance of Power's last album, and that was a live double, and eight since their last studio offering, which could perhaps indicate that they are broken up, though their website mentions live dates for 2008. Even at that, you're talking about three years ago now, so perhaps that's the end. If so, then it's a pity, but I would still advise any self-respecting rocker to check out their product, especially the above reviewed.
TRACKLISTING
1. Higher than the sun
2. Shelter me
3. Fire dance
4. One voice
5. The pleasure room
6. Killer or the cure
7. House of Cain
8. Hard life
9. Searching for the truth
Suggested further listening: "Heathen machine", "When the world falls down, "Book of secrets"