Back in the Ring

Vengeance | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Locomotive Spain
• ASIN: B000H9I15A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #407,835 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Back in the Ring

2. No Mercy

3. Mind Over Matter

4. Captain Moonlight

5. Holy Water

6. Bad Attitude

7. Had Enuff

8. Now and Then

9. Cowboy Style

10. Rip It Off

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Packing A Strong Punch, January 21, 2007

By 

wizey (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back in the Ring (Audio CD)

Having never heard Vengeance before, I purchased this album because I read a review which said it sounds like a cross between AC/DC and Krokus, and I am a fan of both those bands. Now having listened to it, I agree with that review. The style of music is in that AC/DC - Krokus guitar driven hard rock style, and vocalist Leon Goewie sounds like a cross between Bon Scott and Marc Storace. Great if like me, you are a fan of this style of music.

There is a quote from producer Michael Voss in the sleeve notes describing this album: "it sounds like an UFO landing next to you!" and that is a good description of it. I would describe it as sounding like a jet aeroplane. This album sure does pack a strong punch with an intense sound that that really hits you hard. The producer must take some credit for capturing this intensity and getting the mix of power and clarity just right.

Every track is a rocker except for the bonus track "Eveline" which sounds nothing like the rest of the album. This song is more like an acoustic pop ballad. It's pretty good as far as that type of song goes, but because it is so different to the rest of the album I can see why it is included as a bonus track. My criticism with this track though is that rather than be included as a separate track, it comes in after a break in track 10. This unfortunately means that the listener has to put up with a little over 2 minutes of silence before the bonus track starts. Why do this? I find it damned annoying.

As far as the rest of the album goes, I think the best tracks are as follows:
Track 2: No Mercy. Fast paced with aggressive vocals.
Track 3: Mind Over Matter. Legendary Accept axeman Wolf Hoffmann co-wrote this track with another German metal legend Mat Sinner. Wolf also plays lead guitar on this track and as soon as it starts any Accept fan will recognise the riff, which sounds like a slight variation of the riff from the Accept track Turn Me On from their early 80's Balls To The Wall album. This song sounds so Accept in style that I can almost hear Udo Dirkschneider singing it! In fact I had to go and check my Accept albums to see if it is on one of them (it isn't). This is my equal favorite track with tracks 5, 7 and 8.
Track 5: Holy Water. This mid paced track was written by Mat Sinner and has a great melodic verse and chorus but still maintains the power.
Track 6: Bad Attitude. Another track which Mat Sinner co-wrote with Tom Naumann.
Track 7: Had Enough. This is the last of the 4 tracks which Mat Sinner has a hand in writing, again this time with Tom Naumann. A great chorus to sing along with.
Track 8: Now And Then. Written by Paul Sabu and Michael Voss (who also plays rhythm guitars on the album) this song sounds a bit more American in its style. It has a hint of keyboards in the background and a good chorus.
Track 10: Rip It Off. A great rocking track to close the album (before the bonus track that is).

I've listed 7 tracks as the best, and as for the others go, they aren't too bad either, but annoy me a bit. The title track isn't a bad one, but in the middle it has a bit that really annoys me. It's a break where you hear a crowd and Leon Geowie doing a ring announcer impersonation, before you hear a bell and then the track gets going again. I just don't think this was necessary and it sounds a bit corny. Besides that, Guns 'N' Roses already did this with Get In The Ring on their Use Your Illusion II album.
Track 4 Captain Moonlight has some parts which I really like, especially the intro which really builds up well, but over all this song just doesn't quite work in my opinion.
Track 9 Cowboy Style has a punchy guitar sound and rocks along, but the lyrics leave a bit to be desired. It was obviously intended as a less serious song, but I don't think the album needed this joke type of song.

With 7/10 tracks that are pretty good, a bonus track that's different but still not bad, Back In The Ring is a pretty good album. It's the bits that annoy me on the other three tracks as detailed above that have deterred me from giving this album a 5 star rating, which it had the potential to be.

Touted as a "come back" album, it will be interesting to see where Vengeance goes from here. Most of the songs on the album are written by other artists, so let's hope the band can use this as a template and kick on with more albums this good, because there aren't that many bands around these days playing this type of classic hard rock.

I really would have liked to give this album 5 stars as I like it and play it a lot, but it could have been a little better so 4 stars is fair, but still highly recommended none the less.