FULL TILT – Full Tilt (2012)
As requested, here’s the self-titled “Full Tilt” debut album from Ohio based melodic hard rockers FULL TILT. This is a special band, as mix ’80s / early ’90s melodic hard rock with traditional classic rock licks. At places, there’s a Jim Peterik style of songwriting on this album, that’s why some of the material here reminds me of Two Fires, The VU, Pride Of Lions, etc.
Apart from the strong songwriting and musical chops, FULL TILT has a winning card in vocalist Devan Stokosa. This guy’s pipes are so impressive, powerful & melodic at the same time. Of course having exceptional pipes means nothing if you can’t write a memorable song, and thankfully Full Tilt have several of those up their sleeves as well.
“Dancing With The Devil” kicks off with a downright nasty guitar riff and a banshee wail, which sets things up perfectly for the exploding chorus. Guitarist Nick Mucci displays his chops on “Set It Free” — it’s as if he and Stokosa are battling for supremacy with neither giving an inch and resulting in a heavyweight battle of epic proportions.
But those songs don’t represent Full Tilt at their best — that distinction is reserved for “Beautiful Mask”, a song that Lynch Mob could have written in their prime, and the heavy and gritty “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”.
There’s a great midtempo tune in “Sinking”, a cool melodic rocker with “Broken”, while the really good ballad “Tennessee Rain” brings to mind Biloxi or Teer. More Classic Rock, riff-driven is the simple but fun “Two Times Heavy”.
Full Tilt have made a hell of a debut album here, self-managed yet very well produced & mixed. They are blessed with a fantastic lead singer and a terrific guitarist, and their same titled full-length debut CD has a high quality sound/production, while the included material (last but certainly not least) offers some really great tunes.
Highly Recommended
01 – Dancing With the Devil
02 – Sinking
03 – Set It Free
04 – Two Times Heavy
05 – Tennessee Rain
06 – Broken
07 – Beautiful Mask
08 – I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
09 – Rock and Roll Ain’t Pretty
10 – Find My Way
Devan Stokosa – Lead Vocals
Nick Mucci – Guitars
Adam Furay – Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Neil Moyer – Drums, Percussion
out of print
