• 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 ]

Linda and The Punch: Obsession

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

4.0/5.0

Website (Label)
Escape Music
by Craig Hartranft,  08.03.2014

Linda and The Punch are a young English band with a firm foot in modern rock music with an ear tuned to the long tradition of AOR melodic rock. Linda has a strong clean voice with some range, and may remind of something between Pat Benatar and Robin Beck, maybe with a touch of Carrie Underwood.

Linda and The Punch: will knock you out.

For the music of Obsession, while the context is definitely melodic rock, the songs offer some variety with Linda's voice at the forefront. There's some essential rockers within including the opener What A Shame with a crisp punk edge, Looking Out For Number One and, perhaps the heaviest song here, Kill The Lights, with a strong groove bolstered by some tough riffs. Tight riffs and Linda's voice also propel Nothing of Anything, the former giving it a heavy edge, her voice lifting the lyrics and melody above the fray.

Other songs rock with a different tone. Cold Cold World and Welcome to London dial things back a bit, offering more catchy AOR accessibility. They're bright songs with memorable melodies and choruses. That AOR melodic rock style also informs both Wake Up Dreaming of You and Lost For Words, the two songs closest to ballads. The first has a milder, lighter, feeling, the second uses the the lighter start to build to a more rock crescendo. Finally, Linda and The Punch attempt of cover of the Patti Smith classic anthem Because The Night. While the original was rather straight forward rock, the band takes a heavier, even slower, approach for their version. Linda's voice gets the passion of Smith, but at times she's seems more intent on being precise, other times, she simply sounds heavy-handed. Nevertheless, like most classic songs, it's hard to beat the original song and singer. Fundamentally, the greater strengths of this album are the other songs and Linda's dynamic vocal style. Call Linda and The Punch a band to watch. Recommended.

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

Strong songs and Linda's dynamic and melodic vocal style make Linda and The Punch's Obsession a strong and entertaining album of AOR melodic rock.

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 ]