{"id":27367,"date":"2013-02-17T19:47:20","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T00:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=27367"},"modified":"2014-01-24T09:06:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:06:30","slug":"shakra-powerplay-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/shakra-powerplay-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakra | Powerplay<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ShakraAre you looking for something to shake your speakers and rattle the windows? This latest album from melodic hard rockers Shakra has you covered. While the band may have better entries in its lengthy discography, this one is still pretty good and doesn\u2019t stray from Shakra\u2019s entrenched formula of beefy guitar lines, banging riffs and big hooks. Band members have come and gone over the years, but the Shakra sound has remained relatively steady.<\/p>\n

On Powerplay<\/em>, the band\u2019s ninth album, that steady sound still can be described as Bonfire with bigger balls. The band has that European melodic hard rock sound down pat, but the guitars sport a heavier edge than most bands in the genre. It\u2019s what the band always has done, and band members apparently subscribe to the \u201cif it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d adage, because they certainly don\u2019t switch things up this time around. Whether that\u2019s a pro or a con is up to individual listeners to decide, but it\u2019s safe to say that if you enjoyed Shakra in the past, you\u2019ll probably enjoy this album, too. If you always thought listening to Shakra was the musical equivalent of having syphilitic donkey dung forcibly pumped into your auditory canal, then this album won\u2019t change your mind.<\/p>\n

There is nothing to complain about from a technical perspective. John Prakesh has a solid set of pipes, and he puts them to fine use here, though he is more suited to rockers than ballads. The guitars really let the riffs rip, while the rhythm section provides a formidable backbone on which to hang the band\u2019s heavy yet melodic sound. The production is non-intrusive and engineered for maximum impact, while nimbly avoiding overdosing on studio gloss.<\/p>\n

The problem that has plagued Shakra in the past and continues to plague the band here is the ratio of solid songs to great ones. Every Shakra album has featured a couple of killer tunes, but rarely, if ever, has the band released an album that is killer from start to finish. Shakra hasn\u2019t done so here either. There are several good songs, a few great ones, some filler tracks and a couple of tunes that will give the \u201cSkip\u201d button a good workout. <\/p>\n

But when the band gets it right, it\u2019s good enough to give your cochlea a climax. For example, \u201cHigher\u201d is a monstrous hard rock anthem, with hooks high enough to ring Heaven\u2019s doorbell and a backing vocal-powered chorus that really soars. \u201cWonderful Life\u201d is, well, wonderful; the kind of emotional power ballad that Shakra has proven adept at in the past. And then there is \u201cSave You From Yourself,\u201d which is so damn good that even fans who are hating on the rest of the album are saying this is one of the best songs the band has ever released, thanks to a huge chorus and thick harmonies. It is the highlight of the album, by far, and the kind of track that makes you realize how good Shakra truly can be.<\/p>\n

So yeah, a few more gems of that caliber would have improved Powerplay<\/em>, but the quality is consistently good, and sometimes good is good enough. It\u2019s not the kind of album that\u2019s going to blaze its way onto many Top 10 lists at the end of the year, but it\u2019s not going to be a bottom feeder either. Shakra has always delivered solid, crunchy melodic hard rock and has done so once again. <\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nJohn Prakesh (vocals)
\nThom Blunier (guitars)
\nThomas Muster (guitars)
\nDominik Pfister (bass)
\nRoger Tanner (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Life Is Now
\n2. The Mask
\n3. Higher
\n4. Wonderful Life
\n5. Dear Enemy
\n6. Save You From Yourself
\n7. Don\u2019t Keep Me Hanging
\n8. Dream of Mankind
\n9. Stevie
\n10. Because of You
\n11. Secret Hideaway
\n12. Too Good To Be True<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.shakra.ch<\/p>\n

Label: AFM Records<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — Are you looking for something to shake your speakers and rattle the windows? This latest album from melodic hard rockers Shakra has you covered. While the band may […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,1103,2266,6666,334,6665],"class_list":{"0":"post-27367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-hard-rock","9":"tag-melodic","10":"tag-powerplay","11":"tag-review","12":"tag-shakra"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27367","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=27367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}