{"id":41929,"date":"2014-07-03T07:27:37","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T12:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=41929"},"modified":"2014-07-03T07:27:37","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T12:27:37","slug":"laneys-legion-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/laneys-legion-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Laney\u2019s Legion | Laney\u2019s Legion<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Laney'sShould someone walk up to you and say, \u201cIf Laney\u2019s Legion appears on any Top Ten lists at the end of the year, I\u2019ll eat my shorts,\u201d<\/em> go ahead and take the bet, because when December rolls around, you\u2019ll enjoy watching them chow down on their own skid marks.<\/p>\n

For connoisseurs of the genre, this album is a melodic rock wet dream given sonic incarnation. Chris Laney is already a legend and this latest effort only serves to seal his legacy. Anyone who fails to add it to their collection deserves a swift kick to the coconuts. Hell, maybe two kicks.<\/p>\n

What makes Laney\u2019s Legion so good? One could simply reply, \u201cIt\u2019s Chris Laney, mofos!\u201d and call it a day, but in the interest of professional (okay, semi-professional) journalism, let\u2019s wax a bit more specific, shall we? <\/p>\n

Simply put, this album features so many hooks that only the word \u201cplethora\u201d will suffice to describe the quantity. As for the quality \u2026 well, \u201ckiller\u201d will do quite nicely. Oh, it also has Rob Marcello on guitars. If you\u2019ve never heard of Marcello, stop reading this review, slap yourself no less than seven times across the face, then go check out his superb work with Danger Danger, Ron Keel, and Michael Bormann.<\/p>\n

This is Swedish melodic hard rock done right and the mind boggles at rumors that multiple labels declined the album. Even in the melodic rock realm, there is a ton of dreck that gets released on major labels, so for a release of this caliber to experience difficulty securing a deal is a real head scratcher.<\/p>\n

This is one of those rare \u201call killer, no filler\u201d albums. That said, some tracks rise above the rest. For example, \u201cTaste of Your Tongue\u201d is suffused with a swaggering rhythm, an insanely catchy chorus, and just oozes sexual innuendo. Okay, maybe \u201cinnuendo\u201d is the wrong word, since lyrics like \u201chow can I resist you when your panties hit the floor?\u201d are not exactly subtle. In other words, this is not Stryper-approved, but Steel Panther give it a big thumbs\u2014or some other anatomical appendage\u2014up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBleed Within\u201d is a bold rock ballad that borrows from Def Leppard without resorting to outright mimicry. Saccharine harmonies slathered atop a huge, soaring chorus \u2026 this is how you do a ballad and the result is an album highlight. If there is a negative to be heard, it would be the touch of country guitar, but that is easily overlooked, a paltry pimple on an otherwise flawless piece of melodic rock art. <\/p>\n

\u201cLegion\u201d reigns as the heaviest track, a rousing, rip-roaring head-banger reminiscent of Laney\u2019s work with Animal. It\u2019s a metal extravaganza with pummeling riffs, but the sledgehammer is counter-balanced by Laney\u2019s trademark melodies. And as this is the closing track, it\u2019s really cool to see a band eschewing the quiet fade in favor of going out with the volume maxed.<\/p>\n

Legions of melodic hard rock albums will be released this year, but few as excellent as this one. Put the top down on the convertible and cruise the beach with this bad boy blasting from the speakers for a rocking good time. And when people stop to ask you the name of that awesome band you\u2019re listening to, just smile and shout, \u201cIt\u2019s Laney\u2019s Legion, mofos!\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nChris Laney (lead vocals, guitar)
\nRob Marcello (guitar, vocals)
\nMats Vassfjord (bass, vocals)
\nPatrick Jansson (drums, vocals)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. On and On
\n2. Taste of Your Tongue
\n3. Poptastic
\n4. Beneath the Surface
\n5. Bleed Within
\n6. Let\u2019s Get It On
\n7. Hollow
\n8. Lady Luck
\n9. Assassin of Our Love
\n10. No One Can Stop Us
\n11. Legion<\/p>\n

Label: Perris Records<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.chrislaney.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — Should someone walk up to you and say, \u201cIf Laney\u2019s Legion appears on any Top Ten lists at the end of the year, I\u2019ll eat my shorts,\u201d go […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,9536,2847,981,9535],"class_list":{"0":"post-41929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-laneys-legion","10":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","11":"tag-perris-records","12":"tag-rob-marcello"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41929","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=41929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}