TNT

Norwegian melodic rock band TNT have been around since the early 80s and have just released their new album ‘Atlantis’, which is their second featuring UK vocalist Tony Mills (mainly associated with Shy but also had a brief stint with The Sweet just prior to joining TNT). Having replaced long-time member Tony Harnell, Mills probably has a difficult task in establishing himself within his new band. ‘Atlantis’ is produced well and the musicianship is tight and professional. Unfortunately the album is neither rock nor metal. In fact it can only be described as lightweight pop, which would be fine if the songs were memorable. The writing is generally clichéd, underwhelming and repetitive, lacking in drama and dynamics. Opening track ‘Hello Hello’ is annoyingly catchy with the vocals sounding like the Beatles with backing from Queen's Roger Taylor. There is even a hint of The Rubettes ‘Sugar Baby Love’ in this track. Sadly, this is probably as good as it gets. At best the remaining tracks are catchy pop, at worst they are ploddy and lame. The second track ‘Peter Sellers Blues’ and later tracks ‘Bottle of Wine’ and ‘The Missing Kind’ being prime examples of the latter. ‘Tango Girl’ does feature a typically Spanish flavoured sound as befits its title and for this alone, makes it one of the better tracks. ‘Love of my Life’ on the other hand sounds like an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. ‘Me and Dad’ (in spite of a relatively long but interesting instrumental passage towards the end of the song) and ‘The Taste of Honey’ are so sickly, even Bon Jovi fans might find them hard to stomach. When it comes to lightweight pop TNT don't even come close to the better songs written by the New Jersey's favourite sons. My knowledge of earlier TNT releases is virtually non-existent but the little I've heard gives me the feeling that this album may disappoint fans of the Harnell era, which spanned over two decades, where the band appeared to have adopted a more classic melodic rock style. In spite of all the negativity in this review, I can still recommend this release to fans of Def Leppard's most recent album ‘Songs from the Sparkle Lounge’ and fans of lightweight Pop/AOR (including Bon Jovi). It might even go down well with any metal fan who has a soft spot for the Beatles. Anybody with a preference for harder rock or classic metal will probably, like me, struggle to find much to get excited about on this release.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Heaven

Album

ATLANTIS

Review by Dave Crewe

RUNNING TIME:

48:02

RELEASE DATE:

31st Oct 2008

TRACK LISTING

1) Hello Hello
2) Peter Sellers Blues
3) Baby's Got Rhythm
4) Tango Girl
5) Me and Dad
6) Atlantis
7) The Taste of Honey
8) Bottle of Wine
9) The Missing Kind
10) Love of My Life
11) Had It, Lost It, Found It

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Norway

"Anybody with a preference for harder rock or classic metal will probably...struggle to find much to get excited about on this release."