• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

[ More Music Reviews ]

The Poodles: No Quarter (Live)

AOR/Melodic Hard Rock

3.75/5.0

Frontiers Records
www.thepoodles.se
www.myspace.com/thepoodles
By Craig Hartranft,  11.07.2010

Having the balls to call your band 'The Poodles' and then belt out catchy melodic hard rock and metal tunes takes, well, some rather large balls. Certainly, there's little tongue-in-cheek satire missing here. Nevertheless, in terms of pure European melodic hard rock ala the best 80's Sunset Strip flamboyant glam, you will not do better than Sweden's The Poodles. After three studio albums, The Poodles give us their first live album, No Quarter, from their 2009 tour.

Some of my favorite Poodles songs are here including: Metal Will Stand Tall, Night of Passion, Echoes from the Past, and I Rule the Night. Yet, the set list is a good selection across their short career; of course, it's a bit heavy on their 2008 release, Clash Of The Elements, but that makes obvious sense.

The band is in fine form, and the recording is clear offering a balanced mix from all members. Audience engagement is encouraging, but rather minimal, and they are often speaking in their native language. While not nearing a crass over-dubbed representation, No Quarter could still pass as sanitized live studio recording. It doesn't have the warts, wounds, and mistakes of a true live recording like Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous or UFO's Strangers in the Night, the two best live albums ever. But in this modern era, I think most listeners are less forgiving. Nevertheless, The Poodles sound fine on this recording.

The Poodles' No Quarter is probably a poor substitute for seeing them live, but that can be said for any band. Therefore, No Quarter is a better than average representation. Hopefully, the accompanying DVD (which I haven't seen) will shed greater light upon The Poodles stage performance.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

The Poodles' No Quarter is probably a poor substitute for seeing them live, but that can be said for any band. Therefore, No Quarter is a better than average representation.

Alphabetical Index

The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]