Metalist Magazine's
Animal Instinct x 2 Review:
You might not be able to teach this old dog new
tricks, but who needs new tricks when this one
can fu**ing bite so hard?
I've been a fan of British rockers Tygers Of Pan
Tang for some time now, not while the band was
at the peak of its commercial success during the
early and mid-80's, I was too young for that
back then, but I did find out and buy their
records during the late 80's, at a time when the
band stopped releasing albums and all you could
find were new collections by their label/s,
still – the power and majesty of such classic
albums as 1980's Wild Cat and 1981's Spellbound
is unchallengeable.
A few years back I interviewed guitarist Robb
Weir, and I understood the band was back in
action, with a new vocalist – called Jacopo
Meille, a year or two later – and a full length
album is finally out, their first with Meille –
and I can say safely say this guy is the best
possible choice this veteran band could have
taken.
Rock Candy is everything you'd expect from a
song by that name, Tygers were always more
American style hard rock oriented than most of
the NWOBHM bands that operated during the early
80's, and Rock Candy has all of the trademarks
of a good Tygers track – great rocking riffs,
solid rhythm section support, and strong,
mid-to-high range vocals that supply some
necessary soul and groove to the track.
One of the things that were always evident in
their music, is the great guitar work, while
they are known for featuring future Whitesnake
axe-slinger John Sykes in their midst early on
their career, Weir has always been the driving
force – writing great riffs while supplying some
dazzling lead work, second guitarist Deano
Robertson is no slouch either – the two supply
the same amount and quality of lead guitars
we're used to from the band.
While tracks such as Live For The Day come off
as happier, more Hard Rock oriented pieces, the
band ups-the-ant from time to time, with the two
final songs leaning to a heavier, more heavy
metallic direction, with Dark Rider being one
great song indeed.
The edition of the album I got from the label
also included several remakes of old classics
such as the great Raised On Rock and the
legendary cover version of Love Potion No. 9,
and though I can't say they're better than the
originals, they're definitely no lesser, the
new, updated sound, and the great playing and
vocals give the song some nice, updated edge.
Another fine edition here was a live in the
studio DVD, while not exactly dripping with a
budget, there's no substitute for talent and
energy – and these guys have it in spades.
So, cutting to the chase, its bloody sad that
most of the these great British bands that were
so big during that great time during the 80's
are now out of the game, while so many
talentless, whiny and just plain shitty bands
are being centered by the music media in the UK,
but the continued quest by bands such as
the Tygers manages to install some hope that
somewhere in this sea of stupidity, some good
things – never change.
