CRANE – Refuge (2011)

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Silently coming from Munich, Germany, the new Melodic Hard Rock band CRANE is releasing their debut CD “Refuge”.
Formed by experienced musicians from local acts such as Capt’n Hammer and Revenge, the most known of the bunch is the excellent ex- Railway vocalist Armin Schueler.

Crane style is really classy and melodic, influenced by Badlands, Kingdom Come, Extreme, Dokken and alikes, with a sprinkling of The Cult or King’s X.
The star here is Armin Schueler, a very good and complete vocalist with a really pleasant timbre that instantly reminds you Europe’s Joey Tempest.
The guitar parts of Markus Escher are tasteful, with a hard bluesy style and a melodic vintage sound. He is good soloing, but essentially on his precise rhythm guitars are where the band found its musicality.
On “Refuge”, Crane alternates melodic hard rockin’ tracks with more relaxed material, resulting in a balanced CD.

Since the opener “Able To Be Yourself” Schueler stands up with his great voice, over a well structured riff and catchy melodic lines.
“Fantasies” contains a nice chorus, good rhythms lines by Markus and a nice solo. With “Wake Up” the pace turns more dynamic carried by the full band, while the subsequent “Paradise” is one of the best tracks here, that could easily become a workhorse of the band.
“King Of Trash” is fast and powerful, same with follower “If You Open Up Your Eyes”, featuring a solid hard riff, but on the chorus becomes melodic and catchy.

“Soul II Soul” is the obligatory ballad, and one of the best songs on the album. Great job by Schueler on the vocal harmonies supported by melodic arpeggiated guitars.
The teutonic “Riddle” is dominated by a pounding rhythm section and strong riffage, with Schueler singing in the Coverdale style for good effect.
“Capital Fascism” is an effective rocker which, while maintaining a basic melodic hard rock structure (as is generally for many of the songs on the album), manages to keep the listener excited with a groovy riff.
“Love” starts slowly but soon is pulled by a compact full band instrumentation. This song has some tempo changes sustained by interesting guitar variations, musically linked at some point with Deep Purple.
Last track “One Life One Game” is the more Melodic Rock oriented on the album, sounding pretty ‘live’, a special song for the arenas.

“Refuge” is a good and consistent CD by Crane, a new and promising German band.
Not an earth-shaking release, but a more than fine debut album. Crane simply rocks in the classic Melodic Hard Rock style with good taste.
All songs are well structured, arranged and played, with a spacy production that provides the music an organic and melodic feel.
“Refuge” was mixed by Beau Hill, who we obviously know from his work for melodic hard rock bands like Winger, Ratt or Europe, so expect a polished and vibrant sound.
Well done guys.

You’ve seen it first here, at zerodayrock

1. Able To Be Yourself
2. Goodbye
3. Fantasies
4. Wake Up
5. Paradise
6. King Of Trash
7. If You Open Up Your Eyes
8. Soul II Soul
9. Riddle
10. Capital Fascism
11. Love
12. One Life One Game

Armin Schüler – Lead & Backing Vocals
Markus Escher – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Javier F. Luengo-Lopez Fernandez – Bass
Christian Klaus – Drums, Backing Vocals

BUY IT !
www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/Crane-Refuge/hnum/2277096