SCREAMING EAGLE – Ride The Tiger (2018)
“Ride The Tiger” is the debut album from Australian young outfit SCREAMING EAGLE released today January 10th. Not to be confused with Northern Ireland rockers Screaming Eagles, this Aussie 4-piece play classic rock / hard rock drawing on influences from a wide variety of respected artists of yesteryear, what really sets SCREAMING EAGLE apart from young bands floating around their demographic.
Despite all guys in the band are quite young, all have a wide experience in the local circuit with vocalist Matt Piper and Nick ‘Foal’ Cronin being previous members of highly respected Central Coast act NO PRESSURE as well as Nathan Downey and Angus Mitchell being in ROOM 13.
Being together for almost five years, SCREAMING EAGLE are building a strong live following having performed at well over 150 events and shows and shared stages with SCREAMING JETS, THE ANGELS, Aussie legends DRAGON and more.
Thr history of founder member Matt Piper entry in the rock n’ roll world clearly paint why these young musicians love this classic / hard rock sound.
Piper says; “Being just a kid, I got in trouble once at school for swearing, my Dad found out and he snapped all my 50 Cent and Eminem CDs and it’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me. It was all AC/DC and alike from then on out”.
However, SCREAMING EAGLE has very few points in common with the Angus Young band. The songs on “Ride The Tiger” have a style much more ’80s, feel good vibe and bouncy rhythms.
Recorded at the legendary Electric Sun studios in Sydney, this album showcases a rarely seen maturity and skills from such young dudes.
I hear some late Eighties FASTWAY in opener ‘Stuck In A Hole’, THE ANSWER on ‘Let Me Out’, a bit of INGLORIOUS in the extremely melodic midtempo ‘Venom’, and a hint of THUNDER on the moody ‘Right Down’, adding acoustics into the mix.
As you see, varied influences from veteran and current bands, but all revolving around the classic, hard rock sounds and melodies.
Matt Piper owns a clear set of pipes with the necessary swagger, the guitar riffs are strong yet melodious, and the rhythm section breath with bright sonics thanks to the polished production.
‘The Last Crusade’ is very upbeat with a guitar arrangement recalling ALASKA (remember them? Bernie Marsden band post Whitesnake), title track ‘Ride The Tiger’ adds a bluesy touch and a very melodious chorus, and the guys slow down things with ‘This Time’ (not a ballad but an atmospheric midtempo).
‘Smoking Gun’ is really classic rock with tons of swagger and great ‘shuffle’ guitars, before closing with the arena ready ‘Toxic Lust’, driven by a pretty killer riff and soaring lead vocals.
Hailing from Australia is not surprising that SCREAMING EAGLE sound that good – in my humble opinion, most bands from Down Under are, at least, decent – and “Ride The Tiger” resulted into an stupendous debut album from these guys.
All songs are good, varied, melodic and with a bright production. In fact, the only thing I don’t like here is the slightly dodgy cover artwork, but believe, the music inside is very, very good.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Stuck In A Hole
02 – Let Me Out
03 – Venom
04 – Right Down
05 – The Last Crusade
06 – Ride The Tiger
07 – This Time
08 – Breaking Point
09 – Smoking Gun
10 – Toxic Lust
Matt Piper (ex No Pressure) – vocals, guitar
Foal Cronin (ex No Pressure) – guitar
Angus Mitchell (ex Room 13) – bass
Nathan Downey (ex Room 13) – drums
BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Ride-Tiger-Explicit-Screaming-Eagle/dp/B078NVZ8WT
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