Pink Cream 69 - Endangered

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Masscare Records
Catalog Number: MAS 0003045
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:20:01

PC 69 have a very user friendly sound that is almost easy listening melodic metal/hard rock/AOR. It's a combination that the band have perfected over the years.

Endangered continues that theme in a major way, which means they have continued with that dynamic "nice" feel of their previous albums Sonic Dynamite and Electrified. David Readman's vocals sound AOR/hard rock-ish on this album and he gives a groove driven performance which is balanced perfectly with the music. David is extremely pleasant to hear signing with impeccable timing and substance - his vocal melodies are more than outstanding. Endangered has less guitar aggressiveness but plenty of clean sounding solos. Dennis Ward (b) has also continued his production and he has given the band a simple, yet soulful sound. It's not pompous like other bands he has produced and it matches the feel of the album perfectly. Lyrically, I can say with a certain certainty that there's not too much substance in them: although PC69 have never been that sort of band (most of the time anyway). All of their songs have a similar structure and they all are around the 4 minute mark, so there's not a lot of "thinking outside the square" material.

With Endangered, I think the band created what they wanted to create and nothing more. They didn't go out of their way to create a masterpiece or something hasn't been done before. Which is both a help and a hindrance. They had the idea of creating a quality melodic metal album and they have achieved that (not necessarily to the best of their abilities). And let's face it, all of the band members are also off doing other projects: predominantly David Readman (v - Adagio) and Dennis Ward (Producing). So maybe PC69 is where they all come together and put a quick album together every now and again.

I still don't know where Endangered sits after so many listens. It doesn't leave me hot nor cold but maybe somewhere in the middle. I mean, I love the album, but it has its formulaic faults. It's generic and branded to the extreme, but it's also catchy as hell and easy to listen to. And overall, it's fun. And in PC 69's case, I think that counts for a lot.

Also released by Massacre as a digipack (MAS DP0304) and by Avalon (MICP-10267) and Moria Records (ANAKTAR06)

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Intro (1:06) / Shout! (3:51) / Promised Land (5:10) / Trust The Wiseman (4:12) / Don't Need Your Touch (4:26) / He Took The World (5:37) / Enslaved (4:11) / In My Dreams (3:41) / High As A Mountain (4:21) / Shadows Of Time (4:24) / Pinball Wizard (3:28) / Bonus Track Digi-pack/BR: One Time Is Not Enough (3:28) / Bonus Track JP version: Queen Of Sorrow (3:55)

Musicians:
David Readman - vocals
Alfred Koffler - guitars
Dennis Ward - bass
Kosta Zafiriou - drums

Discography:
Pink Cream 69 (1989)
One Size Fits All (1991)
49?/8? (ep) (1991)
Games People Play (1993)
Change (1995)
Food For Thought (1997)
#Live# (1997)
Electrified (1998)
Sonic Dynamite (2000)
Mixery (ep) (2000)
Endangered (2001)
Thunderdome (2004)

Genre: Melodic Metal

Origin DE

Added: January 15th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website: www.pinkcream69.com
Hits: 1892
Language: english