Babylon A.D. - American Blitzkrieg

Year of Release: 1999
Label: Apocalypse Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 39:30:00

This is hard rock heroes Babylon A.D.'s fourth album if we count their live release. I consider the first album to be close to a classic when it comes to punchy, chorus driven hard rock, and I was so excited when I heard the band where going to be reunited.

First off, although this is the same band, the music that is presented on American Blitzkrieg does not bear any significant Babylon A.D. trademarks. Ok, the music is still on the harder side, but this is still far off from what they were doing on the first two albums. What we get here is a mix of sleazy rock 'n' roll, rougher modern rock and straight hard rock. Many will claim this is just another slice of crappy modern hard rock, but there is more to it than that. We are offered songs from a variety of styles, and I must admit that I like the ballads and the more traditional hard rock styled songs the best. They are actually quite good. "I Wanna Live" is a classy example of a good melodic song with a great chorus. The more modern rock styled songs do not quite cut it, even not for fans of that genre. The songs are lacking good melody-lines and accessibility for the listener. Another problem with presenting this wide spectrum of music styles is that they lack identity. The production is decent with an intentionally raw sound.

Overall I must say half of the album is quite enjoyable while the other half are simply fillers in my opinion. I think they would have been better off deciding to go in one musical direction, preferably the more melodic hard rock direction, but that maybe just a matter of taste. All in all, worth checking out if you are a collector or a die-hard Babylon A.D. fan. If not, spend your money elsewhere.

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
America Blitzkrieg / Magic Mary / I Wanna Live / Sinking In the Sand / The Sky's Falling / The Unreal / One Way Ride /Glyde / Superstar

Musicians:
Derek Davis - lead vocals
Danny De La Rosa - guitars
Ron Freschi - guitars and vocals
Eric Pacheco - bass
James Pacheco - drums and percussion

Discography:
Babylon A.D. (1989)
Nothing Sacred (1992)
Live In Your Face (1999)
American Blitzkrieg (1999)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: November 26th 2004
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.babylonad.com/
Hits: 3100
Language: english