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Stephen Pearcy: View To A Thrill
Stephen Pearcy - View To A Thrill Music Review

Stephen Pearcy: View To A Thrill

Melodic Hard Rock
3.5/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Released: 09.11.2018
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 05.11.2018

With his founding band RATT seemingly in chaos in recent years, vocalist Stephen Pearcy has been pressing on to record his on version of "Ratt N Roll." All but two years ago, Pearcy dropped Smash, perhaps his best solo album to date, and putting RATT the band in a tailspin faster than rodent poison. Now the familiar voice returns with his fifth outing, View To A Thrill.

Stephen Pearcy Photo Click For Larger Image

Stephen Pearcy

But, with this album, familiarity with Pearcy only fueled some suspicions. Sure, with his signature raspy sneering punk voice and Sunset Strip sleaze rock style, it's hard not to think "RATT" when you hear a Pearcy solo album. Also, when it comes to basic songwriting, Pearcy is a master of the three minute tune. His formula is simple and concise: keep it short and rock out. And that's pretty much what you get with View To A Kill, excepting that I found the album a bit sketchy along the way.

In the first half of the album, in the first five songs (U Only Live Twice, Sky Falling, Malibu, One In A Million, Double Shot), you get some straight up catchy Eighties rockers with sharp riffs, good groove, and stinging guitar solos. These tunes are simply Pearcy at his three minute rocking best. After this, I found thinks a bit muddled. Secrets To Tell, Not Killin' Me, and Dangerous Thing were steady rockers, yet awkwardly unambitious. Pearcy finds his fire again with the rocker I'm A Ratt, even though it has this unexpected calm outro. The rumbling From The Inside turns mostly on thick riffs and a heavy bass line. The final Violator tries to mix heaviness with subtle lightness but, again, simply seems lacking in ambition and motivation as it trundles along. To my ears then, View To A Thrill was a 50/50 split with the first half being my best experience of Stephen Pearcy's signature "Ratt N Roll," but you may hear things differently.


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The Bottom Line

To my ears, View To A Thrill was a 50/50 split with the first half of the album being my best experience of Stephen Pearcy's signature "Ratt N Roll," but you may hear things differently.

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