A band
that was formed in 1978 can be
said in 2025 to be in the autumn
of its career. And yet, the
Tygers Of Pan Tang seem more
alive than ever! In 2024, they
not only released a
much-appreciated live album
(Live Blood), but also this
reissue of the Animal Instinct
album from 2008. I don't
have the original album, so I'm
not going to compare the sound
of that time with that of the
remixed version now. But I did
know a lot of the songs. Animal
Instinct was the album on which
current singer, the Italian Jack
Meille, made his debut, after a
very short period of
incorporation. For the band
itself, these had been turbulent
years, because the success of
the early NWOBHM years had faded
away. By the way, did you know
that the very recently deceased
star guitarist John Sykes was
part of the Tygers in the 80s?
To say that Meille
delivered a great calling card
here is an understatement. The
man knows how to sing and often
reaches the higher regions with
a very powerful voice in which
you occasionally seem to detect
a hint of Robert Plant. A
typical classic rock voice,
therefore, that fits perfectly
into the style of the Tygers:
mainly midtempo and up-tempo
hard rock that combines some
NWOBHM influences with smoother
80's hard rock (don't forget, we
are talking about 2008 here) and
even a cautious synthesizer
(like in Live For The Day that
reminds me a bit of Whitesnake).
But mainly midtempo and up-tempo
heavy rockers. Let It Burn, for
example, really puts the whip on
it, while it remains hyper
melodic and you can salivate at
the delicious solos. Ditto for
the slightly more angular Rock
Candy. Equally angular and,
through the use of the voice box
and the woo-hoo choruses,
somewhat referencing Bon Jovi is
If You See Kay, but here you
can't say that you're listening
to a band that comes from the
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
Winners And Losers floats on a
simple pumping bass and cutting
riff, and that's all it really
needs to be to produce a
sing-along rocker on which
you'll happily take out the air
guitar again.
Because I
haven't actually mentioned this
yet: the guitar tandem Weir (the
only remaining original member)
and Robertson deliver brilliant
work. The solos are often bluesy
and tend towards ZZ Top. So,
they don't have bad taste! Another speed devil is Bury
The Hatchet. The Tygers are
right up there with the faster
Saxon and Accept numbers.
Including yet another majestic
whopper of a solo. ‘Old skool
metal’? Absolutely! Innovative?
Not in the least! Well done? You
can certainly say that, with the
Tygers you can never go wrong.
Riffs, hooks, blazing solos,
choruses, melodies … why have
these guys never really been
big? Closing track and bonus
track 'Don’t Say R’n’R Is Gonna
Die' gets a slightly different
style. The emphasis is even more
on Meille’s voice and the smooth
chorus, the drums are more poppy
and the guitars are a bit
calmer. The eleven other numbers
appeal to me more, to be honest.
With this reissue of Animal
Instinct, Tygers Of Pan Tang
proves that they have many gems
in their catalogue. Animal
Instinct never bores for a
second, deals in sharp riffs,
melodies and not to be sneezed
at solos, while the structure of
the songs is more than solid.
Highly recommended for every fan
of "normal" hard rock and heavy
metal! As far as I'm concerned,
the aforementioned autumn of the
career may continue for many
years to come!
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