THE ORDER – 1986
- Posted on 06-07-2012
This Swiss quartet reaches back into the old school hard rock ideals for this fourth album “1986”. Riffing and lyrical themes that go for the bouncy, anthem hooks, bluesy vocal swagger and straight forward bass/ drumming- The Order won’t stray far from those tenets within these 10 songs. Whitesnake, Van Halen, early Sinner and of course a little bit of Krokus comes to mind on tracks like “Generation White Line”, “Heartbreaking Rebel Blood” and the John Sykes-like fire charging opener “The Power Of Love” (complete with the ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ line from Kiss as another nod to the veterans of the movement).
Gianni Pontillo likes to shriek and shiver on the faster, blood pumping numbers like “Lonely Nights” or “Damn Hot Chick”- his vocals in that Jackyl/ Dangerous Toys line of blues based with southern rock spices. Guitarist Bruno Spring has all the technique and vibrant attitude to throw down power riffs as easy as he’s peeling off jaw dropping solos- I think his work throughout puts The Order a couple notches above the rest of the pack. Will The Order win in the originality sweepstakes? Certainly not- but once again when they assemble all the right chords and riffs into ear-pleasing material like “Long Live Rock N Roll” (not the Rainbow song of the same title), or the aforementioned “Heartbreaking Rebel Blood”, you can’t help but tap your foot or hoist your fist in the air with appreciation.
And I’m sure the cover will get many a mention in reviews and blog sites worldwide- not for the turntable and vinyl but the lingerie clad lady with the headphones. Being my first exposure to The Order, it’s another nod to the old school and despite a dismal snare sound (very tinny) “1986” does capture the fun times of that era so this could be a sleeper hit for most.