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Reds'cool: Bad Story

Melodic Rock/AOR

4.0/5.0

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by Craig Hartranft
10.10.2013

I get some music pitched to me from Russia. Often it's material, like death metal, metalcore, or industrial stuff, of which I have no personal interest in and doesn't fit the site. Then, about once a year, something interesting comes along like St. Petersburg's Reds'cool and their second album Bad Story.

Reds'cool: reds'relaxed.

Eschewing modern notions, Reds'cool is essentially an AOR melodic rock band in the classic tradition and, unlike many of the other Russian bands pitched to me, sing in English. Bad Story has a good selection songs from edgier straight up rockers like Bad Bad Story to more moderate like Fooling Myself to ballads like Confession.

Songs like Confession, another ballad Love and Pain, You Must Go, and Feel You have airy sway of traditional AOR, with the latter song having energetic blusters within the steady groove. There's a generous amount of classic rock guitar solos, well-placed accenting keyboards as within You Must Go, and clean melodic vocal lines. Although listening to the live performance below, the singer (no band member names were given) doesn't seem as a strong as on record.

Additionally, Bad Story gets high marks for good production, thanks to the notable Michael Wagener (Dokken, Motley Crue, Great White, Alice Cooper, et al.) who produced, mixed and mastered the album. The only downside maybe that, by comparison to some of their European peers, with only nine songs at 40 minutes, it's a tad short. However, if you're wanting another good band delivering classic AOR melodic rock, look to Russia and check out Reds'cool's Bad Story. Recommended.

Reds'cool - Bite

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

If you're wanting another good band delivering classic AOR melodic rock, look to Russia and check out Reds'cool's Bad Story.

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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 ]