CORACKO – New Virus Spreads! (1992) Out Of Print
No, fortunately it isn’t a new Covid-19-like pandemic, “New Virus Spreads!” is the requested album from early ’90s German melodic hard rockers CORACKO. This was their one and only recording, some kind of mix between the American sound from the genre – read EXTREME, BANGALORE CHOIR – and classy Teutonic hard n’ heavy – PINK CREAM 69 or JADED HEART.
Formed by ex WARLOCK members Peter Szigeti (Guitar) & Frank Rittel (Bass) you can tell the expertise songwriting and playing of these guys. CORACKO delivers here 13 tracks of pure hard rock with melody, with very good guitar work and powerful, multi-faceted vocals of Dirk Wicke, which despite having some accent this gives and extra appeal to the music.
Production is huge and polished, just the way we liked. A quite unknown band / album, and they will surprise you with their quality.
Songs like ‘Run With The Pack’, ‘Walkin’ Highwire’, ‘Overblown Roses’ are kickin’ tunes driven by pretty awesome hooklines, then if you need more elaborated arrangements then midtempo ‘Dreamland’s Gone’ delivers, one of the album highlights.
‘Picklock Blues’ has an infernal groove and a terribly contagious chorus that makes you want to stomp, then ‘Dirty Road’ and its furious rhythm is reminiscent of the best of Van Halen’s David Lee Roth period. The title that seems to stand out from the crowd is “Jungle King”, a very rhythmic number with exotic fragrance and original and inspired lyrics.
All is balanced by the stupendous power ballad ‘Don’t Cry For The Moon’, which while slow, still rocks.
“New Virus Spreads!” is more than a worthy addition to your classic era melodic hard rock collection. Strong songs, big production (album released by Polydor) and above all, rocking all the way.
Highly Recommended
01 – Walkin’ Highwire
02 – Innocent – but Caught For Life
03 – Picklock Blues
04 – Dreamland’s Gone
05 – Overblown Roses
06 – Don’t Cry For The Moon
07 – Your Affection
08 – Jungle King
09 – Dirty Road
10 – Wicked Romeo
11 – Dead End Zone
12 – Run With The Pack
13 – Make My Day ‘N’ Die
Dirk Wicke – Vocals
Peter Szigeti – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Frank Rittel – Bass, Backing Vocals
Martin Engler – Drums
Out of print
