ROCKBORN (last Michael Wagener production ever) – Born To Rock (2020)
ROCKBORN formed 2018 with the intention to bring back classic female fronted hard rock to the fore, respecting the traditional sound of the genre. Well, they did it on debut CD properly titled “Born To Rock“. Singer Lu Reid has a terrific voice and she puts on a vocal clinic on these songs, while the musicianship displayed by guitarist John Lyell, bassist Dino Serna and drummer Gary Gabaldon is also very impressive.
The production is almost flawless and you would expect nothing but at this point from one of the most renowned producers from the ’80s era — Michael Wagener. As it turns out, this might be one of the last albums that Wagener produced or at least was involved so extensively since the maestro has decided to retire after a mere 50 years in the music business.
Not only did Wagener produce Rockborn‘s debut album ”Born To Rock” but he also recorded, mixed and mastered it as well.
What we really liked about “Born To Rock” is the way the band morph straightforward rockers highlighted by Reid‘s powerful voice to more atmospheric passages that can switch on a dime. The songs can really groove such as the intro on “Never Said Forever” before suddenly switching to a rather slow part and then launching again into a heavy part.
”Born To Rock” reminds me a lot of Kings Of Dust‘s excellent self-titled debut album, which also features some stellar musicianship with former Badlands bassist Greg Chaisson and the powerful vocals of Michael Beck. While there is no question that the record Kings of Dust displays some quality musicianship, it is devoid of any “hit” singles or anthems, it’s more focused on the music as a whole. The album rocks, it grooves and it switches gears quite a bit similar to what Rockborn have achieved with ‘Born To Rock.’
However there’s radio / single potential on numbers like “Give Me Back My Radio” (a favorite) and “Reasons Why I Cry”.
“Madness My Heart Can Hold” and “All I See” could have easily been found on some Zeppelin records if you switched Reid‘s vocals for those of Robert Plant. Funny enough, the words “Dedicated to The Red Rocker” are sandwiched between the song titles “Not What You Want” and “Madness My Heart Can Hold” on the back CD cover. I suppose that the dedication could apply to either song but listening to the album, I have always thought that it must be for the track “Not What You Want” which reminds me a lot of Sammy Hagar style vocals and chatter that you might find on 5150 or OU812.
Overall, ”Born To Rock” is a cool classic hard rock record that will have you grooving and that always seems to have some new little part to discover every time that you listen to it. Strong material performed by very good musicians and really well produced by one of the legends of the genre.
Highly Recommended
01. Memories of You
02. Never Said Forever
03. Give Me Back My Radio
04. Reasons Why I Cry
05. Not What You Want
06. Madness My Heart Can Hold
07. All I See
08. It’s Not Over
Lu Reid – lead vocals, harmonica
John Lyell – guitar, theremin, backup vocals
Dino Serna – bass, backup vocals
Gary Gabaldon – drums
Produced, recorded, mixed & mastered by Michael Wagener
BUY IT
rockborn.rocks/merch
