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Dame Fortune: The Secret Art

Melodic Hard Rock

Rating: 3.75/5.0

Raido Records
www.damefortune.net
www.myspace.com/damefortune
Review: Craig Hartranft,  07.19.2009

Dame Fortune appears to be a well kept Hollywood secret which shouldn't be. With their latest full-length release, The Secret Art, the world may find out how good this band really is. Dame Fortune is steeped, unapologetically, in the great melodic times of the 80's. Though influenced by those days, and the likes of GnR, Kiss, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Queen, and Led Zeppelin, you will not be getting a nostalgia-driven trip down memory lane. No, The Secret Art is both authentic and fresh.

The Secret Art form of hard rock is melodic traversing the rowdy side of sleaze and roll (In Like Flynn, If You Will Not When You May, or Holly Fenton) to near heavy metal (A Special Place). A song like The Days Are Just Packed invoke the 80's as a cocktail of Cinderella and Poison, sounding better sans the hair spray. Dame Fortune also gets quite heavy in their melodic rock on Santa Ana Blues and I Only Miss You When I Breathe. From the title the latter would suggest a ballad; however, it's more edgy heavy rock. The musicianship throughout is quite expert. However, what is unexpected is the depth of the lyrics. We're not taking Blake or Hemingway here, but for intelligence and coherency, Dame Fortune exceeds rock n roll expectations.

Though striking in it's intelligence, energy and creativity, The Secret Art gets a little tedious towards the end. Secret Rulers, Good For What Ails You, and Hikikomori, though hardly boring still come across as average melodic hard rock. Additionally, I couldn't quite understand the promo description of Dame Fortune as 'classic rock with a modern gothic edge.' Classic rock, yes; but gothic? I didn't hear it.

Dame Fortune's latest The Secret Art rocks with all the authenticity, adventure, creativity of classic melodic hard rock without being derivative or boring. The Secret Art is a solid effort that impresses and intrigues from beginning to end. Recommended!

Dame Fortune's latest The Secret Art rocks with all the authenticity, adventure, creativity of classic melodic hard rock without being derivative or boring. The Secret Art is a solid effort that impresses and intrigues from beginning to end.

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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 ]