Customer Reviews

Pleasure to Burn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who loves hard rock and heavy metal will love this CD!Doug Aldrich is a guitar god!The vocals of Keith St John are comparable to the great David Coverdale but with his own unique twist!Every song will stick to your mind and you won't be able to stop listening to the CD once you put it on!It has been in my CD player for weeks.My sister heard it and went out and got it too!Every song is a classic!From hard-rockers like "Fireball"&"Stone cold n crazy" to epics like "Judgement Day" and power ballad "Cherie don't break my heart"-this album has got it all!Fans of Whitesnake,Dokken,Lynch Mob, ect. will love this!Buy it now!

The last review I posted mentioned how I'd test driven a car just prior to writing my review and that the thing worked fine. As did the stereo. As did the couple of new albums I took along for the ride. One was Phantom Blue and their offering of Build to Perform and the other was this release here.

Burning Rain albums can be hard to track down, but keep on checking their profile and eventually you'll get lucky. And lucky you will be for while this album does lack a certain kill factor - that chutzpah or X factor - it's a very solid release and eminently suitable for when you want to listen to music that sounds like familiar tales told well. The guitarist here is Doug Aldrich so you know that the guitar playing will be quality. There is a reason this guy has had such a lengthy career as side man to some of the stars of the genre.

The music is full bodied, occasionally cheeky and the rest of the band are given their due roles. Aldrichs' guitar isn't all over the rest of the band. Vocals by Keith St John are smooth and good - how is this guy not a 'name'? The album does have a few tracks that don't convince me 100% but they are surrounded by honest hard rock that isn't too hysterical but has its sense of fun firmly intact. And the production by the main man himself is honest, traditional and perfectly in keeping with the wattage enclosed.

If you want traditional hard rock that doesn't spend it's time looking like hard rock but actually trying to get record sales from teenage girls then this is your ticket as it's a well crafted album nicely suited to kicking back at home with or playing at volume in the car.

2000's Pleasure to Burn was the second release from Burning Rain, a melodic rock band featuring guitarist Doug Aldrich (ex-Lion, Bad Moon Rising, Hurricane, Dio) and vocalist Keith St. John. For some reason, the straightforward hard rock of Bad Moon Rising's later albums never sat well with me, so Burning Rain was a welcome return to the kind of melodic rock Aldrich was a part of with Lion and Hurricane.

Looking back, Aldrich's work in Burning Rain was the logical predecessor to the kind of work he would perform in Whitesnake. It's very melodic, slightly blues-oriented, and St. John's vocals are even somewhat similar to David Coverdale's. With its memorable melodies and catchy hooks, Pleasure to Burn is a throwback to the previous decade, when melodic rock ruled the radio. It's also a more laid back album than the first Burning Rain, which is probably a bad thing if you want a more party rock sound, but good if you prefer the AOR style.

Pleasure to Burn is a better than average melodic rock album from a better than average melodic rock band. Unfortunately it was also the last album Burning Rain was to release. Aldrich would go on to higher profile gigs with Dio and Whitesnake.

I've been a Doug Aldrich fan since back in the day when he was with the way underrated "Lion" with Kal Swan. Enjoyed the Hurricane album he was on, and then I thought "okay I guess that's it, he's faded into obscurity". Not the case fortunately, after a stint with Bad Moon Rising (also with Kal Swan), he returned with this band and in all honesty I think it's EASILY the best stuff he's done since Lion. Killer songwriting, AWESOME guitar (like there would be any doubt...). All in all it just sounds like they've really got their groove on. Reminds me quite a bit of Lynch Mob, but better somehow, I think the songwriting's a lot more consistent.

If I thought Burning Rain's first album was great, this one is even better! All I can say to every rockfan, buy this and enjoy to the fullest!! If 5 stars is the maximum rate you can give, this one should have 6!