BAD HABIT
Bad Habit are a five-piece, formed in Lund, Sweden by American born guitarist Hal Johnston. The remainder of the current line-up consists of vocalist Bax Fehling, guitarist Sven Cirnski, Jamie Salazar on drums and bassist Patrik Sodergren. ‘Timeless’ is a ‘best of’ collection, consisting of two brand new songs, with the remaining fourteen tracks being taken from four of their previously recorded eight albums. Proceedings begin with the two new tracks. First up is ‘Turning Water into Wine’ which sees Fehling trying to do his best Jon Bon Jovi impression. It’s not a bad track, with a crisp production and some surprisingly heavy guitar. The good start is immediately stalled by the next song, ‘Rock This Town’ which, as the title hints at, is full of just about every cliché that a rock song could muster and is undoubtedly the worst cut on this release. ‘Play The Game’ follows and is a marked improvement on its predecessor, with a funky feel wrapped around a classic AOR chorus. ‘Heart of Mine’ is the fourth track and is okay without being spectacular. The first ballad, ‘A Lot To Learn’ comes next and has an atmospheric edge to it. The best of the remaining eleven tracks are probably ‘Winner Takes It All’ which has a slightly poppier feel to it, ‘I Don’t Want You, which features some excellent guitar work, and ‘Need Somebody’ which is one of Bad Habit’s better known tracks, with the video to the song having the distinction of being the first independently produced video by a native band to appear on Swedish national television. All in all, this isn’t a bad release, the awful ‘Rock This Town’ aside. The songs are competently arranged and performed, and the production is excellent, which gives each track a polished feel. There is absolutely nothing original here but, by the same token, the vast majority of the songs are pleasant enough to listen to. If commercial AOR with a hard edge is your thing you might find this release to your liking.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
AOR Heaven
Album
TIMELESS
Review by Dave Uphill
RUNNING TIME:
62:06
RELEASE DATE:
28th June 2010
TRACK LISTING
1) Turning Water Into Wine
2) Rock This Town; 3) Play The Game
4) Heart of Mine; 5) A Lot To Learn
6) Rowena; 7) Lost Without You
8) Hunger; 9) Winner Takes It All
10) Everytime I See You
11) Another Night
12) I Don't Want You
13) Sad But True; 14) Living On The Edge
15) Surrender
16) Need Somebody
2) Rock This Town; 3) Play The Game
4) Heart of Mine; 5) A Lot To Learn
6) Rowena; 7) Lost Without You
8) Hunger; 9) Winner Takes It All
10) Everytime I See You
11) Another Night
12) I Don't Want You
13) Sad But True; 14) Living On The Edge
15) Surrender
16) Need Somebody
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Sweden
"There is absolutely nothing original here but, by the same token, the vast majority of the songs are pleasant enough to listen to."
