CHRIS LANEY – Only Come Out At Night [Japan Edition +2] *EXCLUSIVE*

CHRIS LANEY has made a name for himself in the melodic hard rock world by producing some awesome bands like Crazy Lixx, Europe, H.E.A.T to name few, but also has released some solo material as well.
After the post here of Laney’s recent awesome project At The Movies, many asked for his highly praised solo album ‘Only Come Out At Night‘, in this Japanese Edition including 2 bonus tracks.
This album is full of classic melodic hard rock anthems with hooks so big they could easily catch a great white shark.

Laney has always been very upfront with his love for ’80s melodic hard rock, glam and AOR for bands love for bands such as Def Leppard, Ratt, Motley Crue, KISS (Bruce Kulick even co-writes three tracks here).
Without hearing a note from this disc, it’s not a wild guess that this album will be full of kick-ass, melodic, catchy hard rock songs with a clean, yet powerful production.
Laney handles lead vocals, keyboards and all of the rhythm guitar and longtime band buddy Nalley Påhlson (Treat, Last Autumn’s Dream) taking care of the bass parts and touring-band members Rob Love and John Berg (both in Dynazty) are the guitar heroes as usual, on some of the tracks.
Drums are being played by Ian Haugland (Europe) and George Egg (Dynazty), and there’ more Scandinavian musicians collaborating. It’s worth pointing out that Laney’s daughter Tilda sings back-up on two songs.

Opener and title track doesn’t bring out a big hit-feel, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an awesome song – because it is. It’s more of an album track than a single but it only takes one listen to this catchy thang for it to stick like glue. The Led Zeppelin ”Kashmir” verses marries extremely well with the Europe / Def Leppard like chorus.

Second song ”Love So Bad”, originally meant for Zan Clan album #2 and co-written by Zinny Zan (who does backing vocals as well), is a killer melodic rock tune. The big, fat riff strikes with a rough punch and the melodies, both in verse and chorus, are both quite aggressive and catchy as hell.
”Rockstar” is a quite heavy piece impossible to forget once you’ve heard it with a refrain that nails itself to the brain. The tune is a shameless flirtation with Laney’s sponsor, the energy drink with the same name, but who cares when the tune is such a killer!

The big ballad of the album is called “B4 It’s 2 Late”. Smooth and slick, midtempo with huge backing vocals, the intoxicating chorus screams HIT a long way. This is a song that should receive lots of airplay not only on rock stations but also on commercial radio.
”Eyes Out Poppin’” rocks with its “Pour Some Sugar On Me”/”Cherry Pie” groove. Co-written by Påhlsson and Zan, it’s another unused Zan Clan tune. I can’t help wondering just how great that Zan Clan album would have been if it had been released. Great track.

And with Laney, each album needs its Def Leppard tribute. On this album it’s called ”One Kiss Tonight” and I bet Joe Elliott & co. would give a million bucks to write a song like this for Lep these days.
“Gotta Run” is harder and edgier more in the vein of classic hard rock, in the other hand the acoustic / electric guitar based melodic rock song ”Crush” (co-written by Kiss’ Bruce Kulick and has Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy / Motörhead guesting on guitar) is very polished and slick.

“Playing With Fire”, another Kulick co-write, comes with a hard rock twitch that meets a Europe and Ratt groove in the verses whereas the chorus is a more plain pop-laden melodic hard rock where Def Leppard meets Crazy Lixx and late 80s Kiss. What’s not love about that? Great tune.
“I Had Enuff” rocks things up again with more bite. Catchiness all over the place and the chorus slams late Eighties too. Very good.

”Daydream” is a song that sticks out like sore thumb with its almost Beatles-esque melodies that goes funk and 70s style hard rock. Cowritten with Electric Boys’ Conny Bloom, who also duets on lead vocals and handles the guitar solo, sounds fresh with an infectious groove – not a far cry from Electric Boys, a great hook and a striking refrain and quite different to the rest of the CD. A brave move that totally works.

Bonus tracks are great too. “Fire & Ice” is catchy as hell, Martin Sweet of Crashdiet goes off the hook with a guest solo. I love this track and the tantalizing keyboards by Laney are so tasteful it chatters brilliance. Then “Make You Cry” rocks with groove, and the guitar takes more prominence.

Undeniably influenced by Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, Laney not only knows how to make a disc sound like a million bucks, but he also knows how to write hooks you can’t escape – so called ‘Hits’. “Only Come Out At Night” sounds big and bombastic with a smooth, slick production that still sounds alive and quite rockin’ at times.
If Scandi catchy guitar driven melodic hard rock is your thing you need to hear this CD. An album that any fan of this kind of music could easily buy unheard.
Highly Recommended

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HAPPINET / BICKEE MUSIC / AOR HEAVEN ～ 【HMCX-1096】

01 – Only Come Out At Night
02 – Love So Bad
03 – Rockstar
04 – B4 It Is 2 Late
05 – Eyes Out Poppin
06 – One Kiss Tonight
07 – Gotta Pun
08 – Playing With Fire
09 – Crush
10 – I Had Enuff
11 – Daydream
JAPAN BONUS TRACKS:
12 – Fire & Ice
13 – Make You Cry

Chris Laney – vocals, guitar, bass, backing vocals
Additional Musicians:
Nalley Pahlsson (Treat) – bass, background vocals
Rob Love (Dynazty) – guitar (2,3,5)
John Berg (Dynazty) – guitar (7,8,10)
Ian Haugland (Europe) – drums (1,3,4,6,7,11)
George Egg (Dynazty) – drums (2,5,8,9,10)
Brian ‘Robbo’ Robertson (ex Thin Lizzy) – guitar (9)
Conny Bloom (Electric Boys) – guitar and vocals (11)
Fredrik Bergenstrahle – bass (4,8)
Anders Ringman – background vocals (1,3,4,6,10,11)
Anders Lundquist – background vocals (1)
Mattias Savage Wilmenius – background vocals (1)
Jompa Wilmenius – background vocals (1)
Zinny Zan – background vocals (2)
Alec Ferrarra – background vocals (3)
Lennart Ostlund – background vocals (3)
Maria McTurk – background vocals (3,11)
Hanna Henrikson – background vocals (3,10)
Linus Ostlund – background vocals (3)
Tilda Laney – background vocals (10,11)
Elin & Alicia Passanisi – background vocals (10,11)

 

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www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/HMCX-1096