{"id":47567,"date":"2014-12-24T08:36:26","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T13:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47567"},"modified":"2014-12-24T08:36:26","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T13:36:26","slug":"white-widdow-crossfire-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/white-widdow-crossfire-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"White Widdow | Crossfire<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"WhiteAfter three years of struggle with happenings way beyond their control, White Widdow regrouped and rejuvenated so as to strike back again. Good news is that the Aussie rockers come back this year with what turns out to be their third album \u2013 Crossfire<\/em>, released in late November via AOR Heaven. But what is really the splendid news is that the band previously compared to the likes of Night Ranger, White Sister, Giuffria or Blue Tears were not too keen to abandon their pomp rock roots in favor of sound-related experiments and the re-invention of the proverbial wheel. What they delivered instead is a tasteful mixture of infectious \u201880s hooks and melodic riffs that is no weaker than their previous outputs. <\/p>\n

Opened with a powerful group chant \u2013 still one of the most eagerly utilized clich\u00e9s in AOR\/melodic rock \u2013 \u201cCaught In The Crossfire\u201d is all bombastic keyboards and powerful vocal harmonies that prove Crossfire picks up right where their previous album, 2011 release Serenade<\/em> left off. There\u2019s hardly an \u201880s-tinted soul among us who can resist the hooky melody that drives \u201cFly Me Away\u201d or the keyboard-driven groove of \u201cBelow The Belt\u201d, the latter embroidered with a blistering guitar solo. It\u2019s also the rich lead guitar work drenched in tinkly sound of keys that\u2019s the driving force of \u201cDreams Don\u2019t Die,\u201d another fine track enriched with an outstanding chorus that has almost anthemic vibe to it. <\/p>\n

If recorded 25 years prior to what is now on the clock, \u201cToo Many Tears\u201d could have become an instant AOR classic with its \u201cwall of sound\u201d vocals and catchy chorus, followed by slightly feistier \u201cAngel.\u201d In the latter, it\u2019s again the sound of the six strings that comes to the foreground in its \u201880s-infused flashy manner. A balm for angst-driven youth rebellion and a love story in one, the guitar-and-keyboard-laden track \u201cBorn To Be A Rebel\u201d leaves the legions of contemporary melodic rock bands behind together with slick polished hook of \u201cNever Again.\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean Crossfire is just \u201call killers, no fillers.\u201d The album was hailed to have more hard rock-ish quality to it, especially in comparison with its predecessors, but the ordinary and somewhat bland AOR-ish piece \u201cJust Another Night\u201d can be a bit disappointing, while \u201cCarry The Heartache\u201d is slightly too poppy for rock-oriented listeners. Still, that\u2019s not much of a drawback as the rest of the material constitutes a compensation that is not to be rejected by any melodic rock aficionado.
\nWhite Widdow\u2019s third effort isn\u2019t much of a surprise music-wise, as it doesn\u2019t fall really far from their previous endeavors \u2013 a self-titled debut released in 2010 and 2011\u2019s Serenade<\/em>. Throughout more or less the four years, the Aussie five-piece have managed to transform themselves from an overnight sensation into an established brand you know what to expect from. And with Crossfire<\/em>, they\u2019ve certainly met a challenge, treating their listeners with what is yet another outstanding melodic rock album of 2014. <\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nJules Millis \u2013 lead vocals
\nXavier Millis \u2013 keyboards\/vocals
\nEnzo Almanzi \u2013 guitar
\nBen Webster \u2013 bass
\nNoel Tenny \u2013 drums <\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tCaught In The Crossfire
\n2.\tFly Me Away
\n3.\tJust Another Night
\n4.\tBelow The Belt
\n5.\tDreams Don\u2019t Die
\n6.\tToo Many Tears
\n7.\tAngel
\n8.\tBorn To Be A Rebel
\n9.\tCarry The Heartache
\n10.\tNever Again<\/p>\n

Label: AOR Heaven<\/p>\n

Website: www.whitewiddow.com.au<\/a> – www.facebook.com\/whitewiddowaor<\/a><\/p>\n

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

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — After three years of struggle with happenings way beyond their control, White Widdow regrouped and rejuvenated so as to strike back again. Good news is that the Aussie […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[9075,2317,10458,2847,10457],"class_list":{"0":"post-47567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-aor-heaven","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-crossfire","11":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","12":"tag-white-widdow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47567","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=47567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}