GOTTHARD

Gotthard are a Swiss rock band who have supported Deep Purple, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams at various times. ‘Firebirth’ is the band’s tenth studio album release and the first since the untimely and tragic death of vocalist Steve Lee in 2010. The band thought long and hard about continuing before recruiting new frontman Nic Maeder who is Swiss born but has also spent time in Australia. The rest of the band is made up of guitarists Leo Leoni and Freddy Scherer, bassist Marc Lynn and drummer Hena Habegger. This release is a mix of heavy, up tempo tracks and ballads. Of the up tempo cuts, the highlights are ‘Starlight’, which has a bluesy edge and is very catchy, ‘Give Me Real’, ‘Yippie Aye Yay’ (which, despite the rather naff title is very anthemic) and ‘The Story’s Over’ which is probably the heaviest song on offer. The ballads, unusually for a release of this nature, manage to avoid being schmaltzy and are of very high quality. The pick of the ballads are ‘Remember It’s Me’, which features some excellent orchestration, ‘Tell Me’ and ‘Where Are You’, which is a tribute to the aforementioned Lee. I feel the untimely death of the band’s singer and talisman has meant that the ballads are heartfelt and performed with genuine sincerity which is perhaps why they are a cut above the average. The album is well produced and each individual in the band delivers. Maeder fills the shoes of Lee remarkably well, sounding like cross between Jon Bon Jovi and David Coverdale, in very difficult circumstances and must be applauded. This is a very respectable release and, whilst not being innovative in any way, would surely appeal to classic rock fans everywhere.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Nuclear Blast

Album

FIREBIRTH

Review by Dave Uphill

RUNNING TIME:

48:59

RELEASE DATE:

1st June 2012

TRACK LISTING

1) Starlight; 2) Give Me Real
3) Remember It's Me
4) Fight; 5) Yipie Aye Yay
6) Tell Me
7) Shine
8) The Story's Over
9) Right On
10) S.O.S.
11) Take It All Back
12) I Can
13) Where Are You

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Switzerland

"Maeder fills the shoes of Lee remarkably well...in very difficult circumstances and must be applauded."