The third and final studio installment from Canadian rockers Brighton Rock saw them take a harder direction. They dispensed with the frills, and got back to razor edged hard rock with an attitude.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Brighton Rock
ALBUM: Love Machine
LABEL: WEA Canada
SERIAL: CD 74897
YEAR: 1991
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Gerry McGhee – vocals * Greg Fraser – guitars * Stevie Skreebs – bass * Mark Carvazan – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Bulletproof * 02 Hollywood Shuffle * 03 Love Machine * 04 Still The One * 05 Mr Mistreater * 06 Nightstalker * 07 Love In A Bottle * 08 Nothin’ To Lose * 09 Heart Of Steel * 10 Cocaine * 11 Magic Is Back
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Brighton Rock Background
The third and final studio installment from Canadian rockers Brighton Rock saw them take a harder direction. They dispensed with the frills, and got back to razor edged hard rock with an attitude.
In our 2001 interview with Gerry McGhee, he stated that ‘Love Machine’ was the record the band really wanted to make. The ingredients leading up to the release was certainly in their favour.
Brighton Rock had next to no interference from the label, as they lived it up in Los Angeles. During the pre songwriting phase for this album, they decided to leave the keyboards stashed behind back in Canada.
Their prior album ‘Take A Deep Breath’ was awash with melodic arrangements. This was something that did not sit too comfortably with the band, their sound becoming more homogenized than intended.
They wanted to move in the same vein as Tesla, Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest. Instead they were being compared to fellow Canucks Honeymoon Suite and Killer Dwarfs. This did not sit well as both Canucks bands sat at the AOR-melodic rock end of the spectrum.
So, ‘Love Machine’ was a return to the true ballsy intended sound of Brighton Rock. As an epitaph, Gerry and the boys were quite proud to have finally delivered something akin to their desired direction.
The Songs
Producer Toby Wright twiddled the dials here, which eeks out comparisons to others in the over-subscribed hair-metal market. Though it was 1991, this sort of music would be killed off within twelve months by the grunge movement.
Fittingly, it’s great to hear Brighton Rock bash out tunes like ‘Bulletproof’ and ‘Mr Mistreater’. This is with the same attitude as L.A kings Motley Crue, Van Halen, plus outfits like Britny Fox and Cinderella.
There are a number of choice cuts here, and to be honest these actually stack up better than previous material. The title track ‘Love Machine’ and the excellent ‘Love In A Bottle’ with its huge gang chant chorus are standouts.
The band resort to different angles of light and shade within the rock genre. ‘Still The One’ tempers things slightly as a rock ballad. ‘Cocaine’, made famous by Eric Clapton and J.J Cale is reworked by Brighton Rock, as only they know how.
In Summary
Though the album was heavier than normal, it still doesn’t get to the level of the big-league HM bands. But it’s damn likeable all the same. The star performer here is guitarist Greg Fraser. He gets his 5 minutes in the sun without a wall of keyboards to smother the sound.
Still, Metal Forces saw fit to deliver a 95/100 review for the album. Despite walking away from each other without any fanfare, they managed to reunite in 2001 and the intervening years since.
The band also released a live album in 2002 called ‘A Room For Five Live’. Since this CD, the members have all gone on to different projects, both inside and outside of the music industry.
Notably, Greg Fraser is now fronting his own band Fraze Gang, with bassist Steve Skreebs in tow. Later, he formed the band Stormforce.
Brighton Rock on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
