CD-Review: W.E.T. - "Rise Up"

What can I say about W.E.T.? It seems there is no other Melodic Rock band, which is more hyped. Mainly this is due to the well known band members Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman), Robert Sall (Work Of Art) and Erik Martensson (Eclipse). I read some reviews, which say "Rise Up" is a modern classic. I'll check if this is true!








I must confess that I am one of the few, who don't enjoy the first album of this band as much as others do. I liked some songs very much but the whole album wasn't as good as I expected. So I hadn't great expactations on "Rise Up" ... till I listened to the opener.

"Walk Away" is the quintessence of a perfect Melodic Rock song, it has everything to offer what makes this music so enjoyable: a pounding rythm section, amazing guitar parts and a chorus, which gives you a perfect arena-feeling. This song is made for big stadiums - it blew me away from the first listen and the best thing is: all the following songs can keep up with the high level of this opening track. "Learn To Live Again", "Love Heals" and "What You Want" are real gems. By the way: production and sound are top notch and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto delivers also very strong performances.

What strikes me is that the whole album sounds more like a Melodic Hard Rock album. It has lots of harder rockin' elements but is still very, very melodic. The debut album remembered me more of an AOR project.

"Rise Up" continues with "The Moment", which has a really terrific guitar line to offer - in fact I can't commend the guitar work enough. The playing style is so melodic and fresh - I'm loving it.
"Bad Boy" and "On The Run" hit me also very fast and feature all the things I mentioned above.

So, isn't there a weak moment on this record? I can hardly find one ... maybe the songs are kept very simple and the last third of this album isn't as strong as the songs before, but that's nagging on a high level, because even the "weakest" song is at least a good one: "Still Belive In Us".

Folks, I'm sorry that this review isn't longer, but there isn't much to complain about. W.E.T. deliver a stunning album, which is always fun to listen to and makes you feel good. This is a MUST HAVE for every Melodic Rock Fan ... and this says someone, who doesn't like the debut album very much. Well done!

9/10

Tracklist:

01. Walk Away *

02. Learn To Live Again *

03. Rise Up

04. Love Heals *

05. What You Want

06. The Moment

07. Bad Boy *

08. On The Run *

09. Broken Wings

10. Shot

11. Still Believe In Us

12. Still Unbroken

* best tracks