{"id":19759,"date":"2012-04-22T06:22:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-22T11:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19759"},"modified":"2013-01-29T10:10:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:10:44","slug":"wild-frontier-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/wild-frontier-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Frontier | 2012<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Half a decade has passed since this German band released their last CD. In the world at large, much has changed since then. Obama is the President of the United States. Bin Laden bit a bullet. Miley Cyrus is now legal. But what has not changed in those five years is the sound of Wild Frontier. Catchy melodic hard rock is what they were playing back then\u2026 catchy melodic hard rock is what they\u2019re playing today.<\/p>\n

Wild Frontier\u2019s style is in the Bonfire vein, with some Def Leppard (mainly in the layered harmonies) and Scorpions sprinkled into the mix. They are a pure blood melodic hard rock band who give the cold shoulder to modern trends like the prissily pretty cheerleader snubbing a date request from the school dork. They have zero tolerance for current fads, no interest in crossbreeding with other genres. Their guitars are just edgy enough to earn them the \u201chard\u201d tag, the keys are subtle enough to avoid the \u201cAOR\u201d label, and the slick hooks and slicker choruses elevate this from a solid effort into an excellent one.<\/p>\n

Someone could argue the songwriting is simplistic at times, but that someone would be nitpicking, splitting hairs, and just generally being a grump. The arrangements here are focused on creating addictive melodies and alluring refrains, not on impressing anyone with complexity. There are thousands of prog-rock and metal bands out there more than willing to wow you with technical wizardry; Wild Frontier just want you to tap your foot, bang your head, and sing along.<\/p>\n

Speaking of singing\u2026the lead vocals are laced with a noticeable accent, but nothing that should faze anyone who grew up listening to European hard rock. If your ears can handle Klaus Meine (Scorpions) or Claus Lessman (Bonfire), then they can handle Jens Walkenhorst. English not being his native tongue, the vocalist received some coaching in proper inflection from a respected rock journalist here in the States and it seems those lessons served him well. <\/p>\n

The album is engineered exactly as it needs to be, each element allowed room to breathe; everything sounds open and airy. Those who prefer their production be packed with more beef than a Burger King freezer and enjoy their Sonics thicker than Rosie O\u2019Donnell\u2019s thighbone may find the overall sound of this album to be a bit tame, but Wild Frontier are aiming for crisp and clean, not crushing and crunchy.<\/p>\n

But that hardly means these guys are lightweights. For proof, look no further than \u201cStay Tough,\u201d an \u201880s-style anthem that sports the kind of fist-pumping power you expected from a band like Keel or Black \u2018N Blue back in the day. More evidence can be found in \u201cLong Gone,\u201d a full-throttle rocker punched up with gang vocal \u201cwhoas,\u201d ripping guitars, and a chopping, rapid-fire rhythm. Really, the only duff track is the instrumental opener, which is as unnecessary as\u2026well, as unnecessary as instrumental openers always are. Heck, the band even pulls off a miracle by making ABBA sound cool with a rocking cover of \u201cGimme Gimme Gimme.\u201d Yes, you just read \u201cABBA\u201d and \u201ccool\u201d in the same sentence and it wasn\u2019t a joke.<\/p>\n

2012 has already been a banner year in melodic hard rock and it just keeps getting better. At one point Wild Frontier pose the plaintive question, \u201cWhy are the good things too hard to find?\u201d Well, if the \u201cgood thing \u201c they are referring to is a high-quality melodic hard rock album, then it\u2019s not too hard to find\u2014it\u2019s right here. <\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nJens Walkenhorst (lead vocals, guitar)
\nMario Erdmann (bass)
\nThomas Ellenberger (keyboards)
\nSascha Fahrenbach (drums, guitar)
\nNico Fahrenback (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. 2012
\n2. To the End of the World
\n3. It\u2019s All Over Now
\n4. Another Lonely Day Without You
\n5. Why Don\u2019t You Save Me
\n6. Stay Tough
\n7. Favorite
\n8. It\u2019s All Up To You
\n9. Tonight Tonight Tonight
\n10. Can\u2019t You Hear Me Calling
\n11. Long Gone
\n12. Why are the Good Things Too Hard to Find
\n13. Gimme Gimme Gimme (ABBA cover)<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.wildfrontier.de<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen Staff Writer — Half a decade has passed since this German band released their last CD. In the world at large, much has changed since then. Obama is the President of the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[374,2847,5028],"class_list":{"0":"post-19759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-frontiers-records","8":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","9":"tag-wild-frontier"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}