HURRICANE – Slave To The Thrill {Yesterrock / Enigma Records remaster}

And here ends the request fulfill of HURRICANE discography with their terrific “Slave To The Thrill”, in its version remastered by Tony Übler from YesterRock headquarters.
While guitarist Robert Sarzo did a very good job on the first two Hurricane albums, in “Slave To The Thrill”, future House Of Lords / Dio / Whitesnake Doug Aldrich awesome riffs & solos took the band sound to another level.

“Slave To The Thrill” was one of these ’80s / 90s albums that suffered from censorship with its original album cover art. The photo by artist John Scarpat featured a nude female model lying on a strange machine. Seems for someone it was’t suitable for the racks of a Wal-Mart…
It was replaced shortly after the initial pressing by an alternative cover that had the female model removed from the picture so that all that was seen is the machine. This remastered reissue presents, of course, the original cover.

When I heard “Slave To The Thrill” for the first time many years ago, already knew that Doug Aldrich was the new guitarist in the band, but when I heard his riffs and licks combined with Kelly Hansen’s vocals, Jay Schellen’s drums, and Tony Cavazo’s bass, it was obvious this was an off-the-charts outing.
Opener “Reign of Love” solidifies that within seconds, it’s a hell of a way to kick things off.

“Next To You” has this riff that melts all defenses, and Hansen sings incredibly strong and clean. “Young Man” is Doug’s show from start to finish, and an anthem for rebellion. The sexy groove of “Dance Little Sister” is no accident; the band knew exactly what they were doing, and it shows.
This brings us to one of my all-time favorite ballads from the era – yes, this is a 1990 record with ‘that’ huge production sound – “Don’t Wanna Deam”, and its absolutely beautiful chorus.

Moving on, we have “10,000 Years”, where Hansen’s delivery on the chorus is still the stuff of legend to me, and Aldrich once again comes up with some killer guitar sounds. After a brief interlude comes “In the Fire” with a bluesy riff and tight rhythm work from Schellen and Cavazo. This tune is wound up like a snake, ready to strike.
Up next is one of my absolute best Hurricane tracks ever; “Let It Slide”. I used to blast this track on repeat over and over again. It’s midtempo bluesy melodic rock at its best, with an awesome feeling.

A slick bass groove permeates “Lock me Up” and is only accented further by Aldrich’s six-string magic once again. A song very 1990-91 in style and sound, akin Damn Yankees all over.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and this record concludes with hellraiser and barnburner “Smiles Like a Child”. Starting in fifth gear and not letting up for a second, if I had my license at the time I would have been ‘stop the car’ anytime this song came on, and probably would have been able to wallpaper my room with tickets.

Easily, Hurricane’s “Slave To The Thrill” still stands to me as one of the best albums from the 1990-92 period of US melodic hard rock. Its pulse, energy, melodies, layered choruses and top notch guitar work are second to none.
You need this album in your collection, and this remaster the one to get.
HUGELY Recommended

01 – Reign Of Love
02 – Next To You
03 – Young Man
04 – Dance Little Sister
05 – Don’t Wanna Dream
06 – Temptation
07 – 10,000 Years
08 – In The Fire
09 – Let It Slide
10 – Lock Me Up
11 – Smiles Like A Child

Kelly Hansen – vocals
Doug Aldrich – guitars and vocals
Tony Cavazo – bass guitar and vocals
Jay Schellen – drums, percussion and vocals

BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Slave-Thrill-Hurricane/dp/B000U6RZ0W
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