MelodicRock.com Reviews


THE COMPANY OF SNAKES
BURST THE BUBBLE
SPV 085-72682 CD
Produced by: Rainer Hansel & Bernie Marsden
Released: OUT NOW / Website
Closest Relative: Whitesnake (Early)
GENRE: Blues Hard Rock
OVERALL: 80%

  1. Ayresome Park
  2. Labour Of Love
  3. Ride Ride Ride, Run Run Run
  4. Burst The Bubble
  5. Sacrificial Feelings
  6. What Love Can Do
  7. Little Miss Happiness
  8. Hurricane
  9. Kinds Wish You Would
  10. Days To Remember
  11. Back To The Blues
  12. All Dressed Up
  13. Can't Go Back
  14. She
  15. Ayresome Park - Reprise

The Company Of Snakes are back....this is their first studio outing after being forced to drop the name The Snakes and replacing singer Jorn Lande with Snakes In Paradise vocalist Stefan Berggren.
Their previous album featured blues based hard rock, with two live albums concentrating on covering the many Whitesnake songs these guys were involved with in their time in that band.
Burst The Bubble sees the guys basically enjoying themselves and doing what comes naturally - playing a range of blues soaked rock songs. This album sees the style shift to even more blues based and less emphasis on the hard rock.
This is good time, stripped back, laid back rock n roll.
Vocalist Stephen is a fine singer, with the necessary touch of David Coverdale-isms needed to pull this material off.
It doesn't compare with the more melodic AOR friendly Snakes In Paradise, so fans of his work there shouldn't look towards this to do so. Rather wait for their new album.
Instead, this album is made entirely for fans of classic blues-era Whitesnake (Slide It In, Ready And Willing, Saints N Sinners) and others that are partial to mid tempo blues based classic style rock n roll.
If you are looking for some uptempo hard rockers, or some melodic anthems - styles which all of the guys involved have previously released - look elsewhere.
BOTTOM LINE: The quality and production of the album is solid, although as a fan of more uptempo rock, I found the album dragged a little and has a tendency for the songs to sound a little bit same-ish.
But, given that the album is more a blues rock affair, it will hit the mark perfectly for fans of that genre. As far as others in the market place, there are still few that do it better than Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray and John Lingwood.
Note that several of the tracks are re-workings from the band's other studio album Once Bitten.
PRODUCTION: 80% SONGS: 85% VIBE: 75%ATTITUDE: 80%
ESSENTIAL FOR: Fans of the blues rock Mickey/Marsden/Moody trio, some Snakes In Paradise fans.
DISCOGRAPHY:Live In Europe . Once Bitten . Here They Go Again . Burst The Bubble



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