Zwaremetalen, Dutch - 'Majors And Minors' Review by Serge Vermeersch

One of the bands I've "known" since the 1980s without really knowing is Tygers of Pan Tang. One day in the eighties I must have heard a song by those five that didn't suit me at all, so I never went into it further. Was my impression correct or wrong? Nothing better than a compilation album to find out. Although it is with a large footnote: Majors & Minors as a collector only covers material from the last thirteen years (which corresponds to their four last full albums). There is reworked material in between, and songs that have not been released on CD before. A kind of 'best of' with no less than fifteen songs, but from the last part of their career and not their New Wave of British Heavy Metal period as time and peer peers of Saxon and Iron Maiden, without ever achieving the same degree of success. to know.
You can call Tygers of Pan Tang's career anything but a flat course. Of the founding members from 1978, only guitarist Robb Weir is present. And even he was not there all the time, because between 1987 - 1999 the band was actually on the go, and the period 1983 - 1987 was not exactly stable either. But come on, in the 21st century it seems to be going better because vocalist Jacopo (Jack) Meille has been playing since 2004 and drummer Craig Ellis even since 2001. More steadfastness, witness these Majors & Minors and the well-received predecessors Tygers Of Pan Tang (2016) and Ritual (2019).
An Oscar for innovation and creativity will never be theirs. But if there are prizes to be handed out for easy-to-ear rockers, melodicism, grooves, flashy guitar work and decent vocals then Tygers of Pan Tang can certainly claim his share of the prize pool. A song like She is banging away nicely but remains somewhat restrained and balances on the narrow boundary between AOR (adult oriented rock) and hard rock. Destiny isn't very hard either, which might be Savatage-like.
Spoils Of War by Ritual is a drawn-out but not super heavy song either. Here it gets an orchestral look in which the rhythm guitar is pushed back a bit more. The original suits me just better.
The energy tap opens a lot further on Only the Brave, a mid-tempo riff-beast with a melodic chorus that reminds me of a somewhat faster version of Judas Priest's One Shot at Glory. It can be very up-tempo and a lot more aggressive, like on Never Give In where you could almost swear that Vince Neil is behind the microphone, or in Damn You !. Let It Burn also puts the whip on, but throws the fine, aggressive edge overboard again.
Let's just say that melody is the magic word after all. Take Glad Rags, a bit bluesy with an Aerosmith touch. Or Keeping Me Alive, which could be a great song for WigWam. I see The Devil You Know fit very well on another album that I was able to review here recently and that really appealed to me: Holy Ground by The Dead Daisies.
It will be clear: my original disdain in the 80s of Tygers of Pan Tang was totally out of place: on Majors & Minors you get top-shelf melodic hard rock with a big nod to the 80s. Ideal for opening the roof of your car and cruising the streets (or just braving the traffic jam).

Back To Reviews