Outloud : Love Catastrophe

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by Ron and Don Higgins
Staff Writer

Love Catastrophe is the excellent sophomore release from Greek melodic hard rockers Outloud. When they released Outloud, their debut record in 2009, the rock world took notice. It was a hard hitting rock gem that was praised by many reviewers, even winning “Best Album of the Year” in BW&BK/Bravewords.com. The question, as always, when following up a great debut album, is whether or not the band is going to fall into the trap of the Sophomore Slump or take the momentum and build an even better record. It’s safe to say, this is NOT a Sophomore Slump. For all of those people out there who complain that good melodic hard rock is dead, this is the album you need to play for them.

The genesis of Outloud began in 2004 when guitarist Tony Kash began taking guitar lessons with Firewind’s Bob Katsionis. The lessons apparently went well because they teemed up in 2008 with drummer Mark Cross (Tainted Nation, ex-Firewind, Helloween, Kingdom Come), bassist Jason Mercury and former Talon singer Chandler Mogel. In 2009, they released their debut album on Frontiers Records to rave reviews. Shortly thereafter, Sverd T. Soth (Bare Infinity) became the new bass player. They then went on to do a successful headline tour of their native Greece in late ’09 and inked a deal with AOR Heaven for their follow-up album, which was recorded in the summer of 2010. Like their debut, it was produced by Bob and mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (Helloween, TNT, Pretty Maids).

The album kicks off in high fashion with what will surely become a concert staple, the exceptional “We Came To Rock”. This song is an in-your-face, hard rocking monster that contains a blistering guitar solo and Chandler’s proclamation, “We came to rock! We came to roll!” Think Def Leppard screaming “Welcome to my show!” at the beginning of their popular “Stagefright”. If you want to win some easy money at one of their shows, bet someone that you can name the first song. It’ll be this one.

Other standout tracks include, “Waiting for Your Love”, “Someday”, and “Underground”. “Waiting for Your Love” is the debut single/video and is a good representation of what this band, and in particular, this album, is all about. It’s a very good song with great guitar hooks and a catchy chorus. Musically, it’s reminiscent of classic Dokken and Chandler invokes a bit of legendary Lou Gramm on his vocals. Once you hear it, you won’t be able to forget it. “Someday” is the one true ballad on this album with a beautiful acoustic intro. This song highlights the strength of Chandler’s vocals. It also features nice female backing vocals. It’s a classic tale of lamenting, long-lost lovers. “Underground” is a bit more modern sounding with killer guitar riffing and lots of swagger. You can practically feel the testosterone oozing from your speakers when Chandler starts off singing, “Listen to a story ‘bout a man like me, he’s been riding on the backs of snakes since he was three.” Whereas most of the album harkens back to the glory days of the hard rocking 1980’s, this one has more of an Offspring feel to it. Although this record doesn’t really have any fillers, probably the weakest song is the modern sounding “Isolation Game”. The Cher/T-Pain inspired Auto-Tune effects are unnecessary.

The album wraps up as strong as it starts, with the title track “Love Catastrophe”. It begins with a slow keyboard intro with spacey synthesizer sound effects. Then the sounds of rain and thunder slowly build into the mix before the songs morphs into a cool rocker. The signature guitar licks, great melodies and memorable chorus are all present. It’s an extremely interesting song and a perfect way to end this impressively enjoyable second album.

In summary, this is a very consistent, well-produced, incredibly good melodic hard rock album. Aside from the one ballad, it’s filled with mostly up-beat rockers. Anyone who is a fan of classic ‘80s sounding hard rock or just melodic hard rock in general will love this album. People who love newer bands like Brother Firetribe will also love this album. And let’s face it, who wouldn’t love an album that starts out with a crusty Irishman saying, “All right, ya lassies. I wanna see some asses shakin’!”?

Band:

Mark Cross – Drums
Bob Katsionis – Lead Guitar & Keys
Sverd T. Soth – Bass
Tony Kash – Guitars
Chandler Mogel – Vocals

Track Listing:

1. We Came To Rock
2. Falling Rain
3. Live Again
4. Waiting For Your Love
5. The Night That Never Ends
6. Someday
7. Underground
8. Isolation Game
9. Clean Hands
10. Love Catastrophe

Website(s): www.myspace.com/outloudtheband  / www.outloud-rock.com  / http://www.facebook.com/outloudtheband

Label: AOR Heaven

Hardrock Haven Rating: 9/10