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Old 08-14-2011, 11:58 AM   #146 (permalink)
Trollheart
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Rebel soul --- Bonfire --- 1998 (Saraya)


Okay, pop quiz, hotshot! Listen to this band before you read any further and tell me what nationality you think they are? Go on, click the YouTube, I'll wait...

Back? Okay, so they're American, right? Maybe from Georgia, Tennessee? Somewhere in the deep south anyway.

BUZZ! Wrong! They're … wait for it … German!

Yeah, I was amazed myself. German, but they've gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to sound like something born out of the swamps of Louisiana, and to be fair they got it right. This is their sixth album, and is full of more hard-hitting rock and power anthems than you can shake a drumstick at. Vocalist Claus Lessman definitely thinks he's Axl Rose, and in addition to singing he co-wrote almost every track here, bar the covers of course.

There's a heavy cruncher to start off with; “Wake up” features a catchy chorus and snarling guitars from Hans Ziller and Claus Lausmann (not to be confused with the lead singer), with solid drumwork by Jurgen Wieler. Certainly has a good groove to it. The guitars get going a bit more on “Just to say we did”, some really nice riffing there, then we have “Before we say goodbye”, a southern ballad which surely must close most if not all Bonfire concerts. Great acoustic guitar, a real “thank you” song and no doubt a real crowd pleaser. Excellent guitar solo just to give it a kick up the arse too.

“Lay your heart on the line” goes way off field, with funky keyboards and a sort of reggae rhythm introducing the track, though the guitars of Lausmann and Ziller bring it back to a rock base. The reggae beat continues through the song though, and it's a little incongruous. One of the standout tracks is next, “Somebody's waiting” has everything: good hooks, decent beat, great lyric and powerful guitars. And a chorus you can't help but sing.

The first ballad on the album is great. A real cowboy-type song in the vein of Poison's “Every rose has its thorn”, Bonfire's “Hearts bleed their own blood” wrings every drop of emotion out of the song, another one for the cigarette-lighter brigade! Claus Lausmann's keyboard work does a lot to raise this song to the level of near-classic, while the plaintive guitar squeals from Hans Ziller add their own power and emotion. Over it all of course is the gravelly, drawling voice of Lessman: you can definitely see him in a stetson and fringed jacket singing this on stage.

“Rock me till I die” features some nice wah-wah guitar, with something of a Rolling Stones vibe, while “Desire” is a minor mini-epic, with chugging guitar and synth string section, a boogie waltz, essentially the second ballad on the album. This showcases the softer side of Lessman's voice, and he handles the ballad with ease and panache. They do two covers then, the first being Cat Stevens' standard “First cut is the deepest” (made famous by Rod Stewart, and it's his version that seems to inform Bonfire's take on the song --- with a lot more guitar, of course!), and the closer being the old southern anthem “Dixie”, of which they do two versions, one called “Wild Dixie”, the actual closer, and it's this second version that really gets the heavy metal treatment.

Bonfire plainly either want to be American, or have marketed themselves as such, and they've done a very good job. There's not a trace of “krautrock” or even a German inflection in Lessman's voice, and without being told it's not the case, you would definitely think that he at least is from the good ol' USA. The themes in the songs, the way they're played, even the title of the album, all lend themselves to the idea of a band from down south. So have Bonfire been dishonest in portraying themselves this way? I don't think so. Nowhere do they say they're American, or pretend overtly to be. If that's your conclusion after having listened to them, well that's just how it is.

But German or American, one thing can't be denied. They are one hell of a band, and “Rebel soul” is a great album.

TRACKLISTIING

1. Wake up
2. Just to say we did
3. Before we say goodbye
4. Somebody's waiting
5. Lay your heart on the line
6. Hearts bleed their own blood
7. Rock me till I die
8. Desire
9. Good or bad
10. First cut is the deepest
11. You'll be alright
12. Dixie
13. Wild Dixie
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Last edited by Trollheart; 11-04-2011 at 01:36 PM.
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