| CD REVIEW TNT |
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Band : TNT Okey, I'm slightly pissed here! As many of you may well know, TNT was one of the quality bands on the German based label MTM Music.Can you understand that a band like TNT couldn't get anything more than a mere Swedish (possible Scandinavian) distribution for their first album (May 2007's The New Territory also happened to be the first album with new singer Tony Mills – ex-Shy – after the departure of Tony Harnell in 2006) after the demise of the label? Here's another thing I'm pissed off about: as it so happens this new studio album sees the band venture into a style of music which is possibly very close to guitarist & TNT mastermind Ronni Le Tekrö's heart, namely the kind of multi-vocal sustained Rock Pop of the early '70s, made hugely popular by the likes of The Sweet and Queen (actually there's always been sóme of that music in Le Tekrö's music of the later years, but in somewhat limited amounts). And just like those bands, the boys have made songs which either swing in the Pop areas, or are rather categorisable as Hard Rock songs...but always with sóme of that vocal harmony stuff! I have to say, the combination of the high pitched voices of both lead singer Tony and backing singer Ronni is perfect to such ends, and each and every song on the album (including the rather Bluesy and Eric Clapton-ish "Me And Dad" – I swear I though it was a cover first, but I checked and could not find a song by that title in Eric's catalogue; the tango-infused "Tango Girl"; the rather simple but o-so-wonderfully brought friendship song "Bottle Of Wine") is a true jem...if you're into this kind of music! Of course, when such an album gets reviewed by people who don't have any feeling for that era-typical kind of music (like apparently the so-called "music journalist" for Holland's most important Rock magazine – and I refuse to call either by name...I'm simply too disgusted, because I've seen similar things happen in same magazine, perpetrated by collegues of said reviewer), what you get is a review which misses the point completely! "Peter Seller Blues" is in fact nót a Blues song at all, but rather a tribute to the great actor...and "Bottle Of Wine" is nót a "party rocker", but rather a celebration of good times had with close friends! Aarrrggghhhh...'nuff said about that kind of self-important arseholes, who don't care about anything than the kind of music they like themselves and have no feeling for good music overall! To the true music lovers among us into the above mentioned style of Pop/ Rock, here's the message: check out a couple of the songs on the new album (you get samples of the wacky album opening "Hello Hello", the even wackier "Tango Girl", and the great Blues ballad "Me And Dad" – you listen to the opening of the latter, and dare tell me it doesn't remind you of Clapton in some way!). Personally, I've put the album on my want-list, to order a copy of my own (what we got here is only a cardboard promo copy, which is going back to the editor-in-in-chief, and the retail version is supposed to have a bonus track with a live rendition of "Substitute", a track off the previous album! For those among you interested: the Japanese version of the album will have a bonus song with the live rendition of "June", yet another track off The New Territory...which would've been a title much better suited to this new album!)...which means you knów this lands into my "Best Albums Of 2008"-list! 98/100 Tony. |