{"id":49804,"date":"2015-07-08T21:43:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T02:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49804"},"modified":"2015-07-08T21:43:45","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T02:43:45","slug":"hungryheart-dirty-italian-job-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/hungryheart-dirty-italian-job-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungryheart | Dirty Italian Job<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"HungryheartEven if pink\u2019s the new black, the deliberately cheesy cover artwork for this album is not exactly a sight for the sore eyes. And still, it\u2019s good news to see Hungryheart back in the game, five years after their previous album One Ticket To Paradise<\/em> saw the light of day \u2013 especially if you\u2019re a Melodic Rock aficionado. The Italian band around mastermind and guitarist Mario Percudani is back with most of their previous line-up at their posts and another release in their catalog, teasingly entitled Dirty Italian Job<\/em>. Here and there, a guest keyboardist pops in. In some of the tracks, it\u2019s a renowned Hammond organ player Paolo \u201cApollo\u201d Negri who takes control over the keys, and in other it\u2019s Alessandro Del Vecchio (who doesn\u2019t really need to be introduced). There\u2019s also been a bit of microphone swap in the recording studio between the band members, with Mario Percudani sharing the lead vocals with the band\u2019s regular singer Josh Zighetti in two of the tracks (\u201cNothing But You,\u201d \u201cSecond Hand Love\u201d). <\/p>\n

Although much can happen in the span of five years, Hungryheart\u2019s trademark Melodic Rock sound apparently isn\u2019t susceptible to any drastic revolution. Or \u2013 at least \u2013 it hasn\u2019t undergone such since One Ticket To Paradise<\/em>. Consequently, Dirty Italian Job<\/em> is as much about charming melodies, distinctive hooks and solid guitar riffs as its predecessor was. And yet \u2013 now the band sounds more mature and somewhat more sophisticated as compared with the contemporary vibe and \u201880s flavors of their sophomore effort. An evolution in terms of music, if there was any, was a slight drift towards the early \u201890s, the period which left the \u201880s Glam Metal excess behind only to give us Melodic Rock excellences incarnate \u2013 House Of Lords, Tyketto, Bangalore Choir, etc. And as it turns out, it was all to the good.<\/p>\n

Dirty Italian Job<\/em> doesn\u2019t disappoint all along the way, from uptempo catchy tracks (\u201cThere Is A Reason For Everything,\u201d \u201cRight Now,\u201d \u201cShoreline,\u201d \u201cRock Steady\u201d) and melodic midtempos reminiscent of bands such as early Harem Scarem (\u201cAll Over Again”) to blistering slowdown moments (\u201cNothing But You,\u201d \u201cYou Can Run\u201d). A guitar passage in groovy AOR-ish piece \u201cBack To Real Life\u201d has slightly \u2013 but only slightly \u2013 Zeppelin-esque feel to it, while the dynamic \u201cDevil\u2019s Got My Number\u201d or somber \u201cSecond Hand Love\u201d season the group\u2019s trademark sound with different shades and flavors of Blues. The group\u2019s take on Eric Clapton\u2019s 1989 Blues\/Rock classic \u201cBad Love\u201d is a fine one too, not really far from the fiery original. <\/p>\n

But the record\u2019s real highlight is perhaps \u201cTime For The Letting Go\u201d \u2013 its groovy, feisty verses delivered over a pounding bass sound and the restrained guitar riff only to explode in an unashamedly melodic chorus. It has the band reaching band even further in the history of rock, with the \u201870s vintage flavors all over the track. And such journeys in time are certainly something Mario Percudani and the gang should have done much more frequently.<\/p>\n

With the classic Melodic Hard Rock vibe to it, Dirty Italian Job<\/em>, Hungryheart achieved what many of genre\u2019s \u201880s and \u201890s representatives now strive for to no result and growing frustration of their fanbase. And it\u2019s because they know well how to utilize the genre\u2019s musical past \u2013 taking the best and forgetting the rest, if one wanted to paraphrase Styx. A collection of songs that forms the group\u2019s third album is more in line with Trixter, Tyketto or Mitch Malloy\u2019s classic albums than overproduced rock releases of the contemporary era. Apparently unwilling to go for unnecessary experiments with their sound, these talented Italians still choose to blend strong melodies, solid songwriting and a bit of six string fuel all together, their buzzing mixture called Dirty Italian Job<\/em> being simply a job well done. Much recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock, AOR<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJosh Zighetti: lead & backing vocals
\nMario Percudani: guitars, backing vocals; lead vocals (tracks 04, 07)
\nStefano Scola: bass
\nPaolo Botteschi: drums<\/p>\n

Additional musicians:
\nPaolo Apollo Negri: keyboards (tracks 02, 07, 10)
\nAlessandro Del Vecchio: keyboards (tracks 01, 04, 06, 08)
\nGiulio Garghentini: backing vocals (track 08)<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1.\tThere Is A Reason For Everything
\n2.\tBack To The Real Life
\n3.\tShoreline
\n4.\tNothing But You
\n5.\tDevil\u2019s Got My Number
\n6.\tBad Love
\n7.\tSecond Hand Love
\n8.\tTime For The Letting Go
\n9.\tRight Now
\n10.\tYou Can Run
\n11.\tRock Steady
\n12.\tAll Over Again<\/p>\n

Label: Tanzan Music<\/p>\n

Website: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hungryheartband<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Even if pink\u2019s the new black, the deliberately cheesy cover artwork for this album is not exactly a sight for the sore eyes. And still, it\u2019s good news […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[8939,2317,11358,11357,2847,11359],"class_list":{"0":"post-49804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-aor","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-dirty-italian-job","11":"tag-hungryheart","12":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","13":"tag-tanzan-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}