{"id":65719,"date":"2019-02-18T21:31:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T02:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=65719"},"modified":"2019-02-18T21:37:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T02:37:40","slug":"rain-or-shine-the-darkest-part-of-me-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2019\/rain-or-shine-the-darkest-part-of-me-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Rain or Shine | The Darkest Part of Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari<\/span>
\n\u2014 Sr. Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Fronted by the duo of Steve S.R. (vocals, bass, guitar and keyboards) and Andy McCormick (drums, percussion) Rain Or Shine have dropped their sophomore offering, the excellent The Darkest Part Of Me<\/em> on Perris Records. With a mix of all the guitars, and vocal harmonies that made such 1980\u2019s bands like Firehouse, Danger Danger, Slaughter and Giant radio mainstays and the driving melodies of the more modern flair of Pop Evil, Sick Puppies, Royal Bliss, or Deepfield, The Darkest Part Of Me<\/em> is one damn fine record.<\/p>\n

Heavy yet melodic, the pulsating, thumping rhythms drive the songs forward, while short, staccato guitar riffs and solos poke its way through the music, as frequent vocal harmonies float above the songs and make these songs instantly likeable. Great chord structures (as heard on the fantastic CD highlight \u201cTop of the World,\u201d) keep the song in check, but allow the guitar ample to time to be an integral part of the songwriting, while soft keyboards stay comfortably in the background. The vocals range from the harmonic to rapid, to the hard to the soft. Sometimes within the span of a single song. For such a young band, the boys of Rain Or Shine seem to have the songwriting pen firmly in check, but still allow for experimentalism to give certain songs certain charm and its own individuality, (as heard on \u201cNew Love.\u201d) The band\u2019s influences can be heard, as the songs ranged from the Hard Rocking (\u201cShot Of LIfe,\u201d) to the almost Progressive (\u201cWe Only Live Once,\u201d) to the soothing sounds and layered vocals of Toto as heard on \u201cAround The Corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening with the title track, an acoustic guitar, piano and hushed, whispered vocals fill a great intro, but within a few moments heavy handed drums, chugging guitars change the pace of this song, and soon this becomes a great melodic hard rocker. As has already been said, \u201cTop of the World,\u201d is a killer, intense rocker, that during the bridge into the chorus the vocals climb heavenward, and an instant reach for the volume knob is made. Much like the unfortunately now defunct hard rocking band Overloaded did so many times on their excellent 2007 release, Regeneration,<\/em> it is the guitars that make \u201cTop of the World\u201d a must listened to song. Also great was the pulsating \u201cNew Love,\u201d the head nodding vibe of \u201cAround the Corner,\u201d with its pressing organ, the and need-to-hear-it-louder \u201cShot Of Life\u201d with its heavy use of vocal harmonies was perfect. The riffs of \u201cWe All Back Down,\u201d the easy \u201cBack On Track,\u201d and the closing track \u201cWe Only Live Once,\u201d with its strong lyrics area all songs that need to be heard.<\/p>\n

When a band can merge melody and strong musicianship, this is a band to pay attention to. A love for the music of decades past, and a strong desire to keep in check with the music of today is what makes this such a strong record. A tangible talent is felt throughout The Darkest Part Of Me, and in a time or two personal messages come through by way of its lyrics (pay attention to \u201cWe Only Live Once.\u201d) A follow up to their 2013 debut Seize the Night<\/em>, which was met with strong reviews, this too should make many a musical journalist sit up and take notice. Naming such influences as Toto, Led Zeppelin, the legendary Tower of Power and the multi-talented Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree, No Man, and the always great Blackfield,) are part of this band\u2019s songwriting repertoire, and it is a hope that future releases by Rain Or Shine are as strong as this one.<\/p>\n

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

Band Members:<\/p>\n

Steve S.R. – vocals, keyboards, bass, guitar
\nAndy McCormick – drums, percussion<\/p>\n

Track Listing<\/p>\n

The Darkest Part of Me
\nTop Of The World
\nNew Love
\nWhere Are You Now
\nAround The Corner
\nShot Of Life
\nWe All Back Down
\nBack On Track
\nInto The Storm
\nWe Only Live Once<\/p>\n

Label: Perris Records<\/p>\n

Band Website: www.facebook.com\/rainbandshine<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 8.5 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari \u2014 Sr. Columnist \u2014 Fronted by the duo of Steve S.R. (vocals, bass, guitar and keyboards) and Andy McCormick (drums, percussion) Rain Or Shine have dropped their sophomore offering, the excellent The […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14890,981,14887,14889,14888],"class_list":{"0":"post-65719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music-reviews","8":"tag-andy-mccormick","9":"tag-perris-records","10":"tag-rain-or-shine","11":"tag-steve-s-r","12":"tag-the-darkest-part-of-me"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65719","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}