American band Hurricane are another outfit back on the reunion path.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Hurricane
ALBUM: Reconnected
LABEL: Escape Music
SERIAL: ESM379
YEAR: 2023
CD INFO: Discogs Info List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Robert Sarzo – guitars, production * Tony Cavazo – bass, backing vocals * Mike Hansen – drums, percussion * Dan Schumann – lead and backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Rock Star Cheater * 02 You And I * 03 Under Pressure * 04 Behind Your Shadow * 05 Innocent Girl * 06 Don’t Change Your Love * 07 I’m On To You * 08 Hand Of Souls * 09 Disconnected * 10 Blind Love * 11 Wishing Well
RATING: 65/100
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
American band Hurricane are another outfit back on the reunion path. They’ve been around since the start of the glam metal era during the early 80’s, and have released several albums during their initial 15-20 year run. The stalwarts of Hurricane evolved mostly around original singer Kelly Hansen, guitarist Robert Sarzo and bassist Tony Cavazo. The latter two also having siblings in fellow L.A metal band Quiet Riot being Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo.
Robert Sarzo left the band in 1989 replaced by Doug Aldrich of Lion, while later on Kelly Hansen would join Foreigner once Hurricane had gone into hiatus after 2001’s ‘Liquifury’. However in 2011, Robert Sarzo and Tony Cavazo bought Hurricane out of the closet once more, initially with Andrew Freeman (Last In Line) on lead vocals, but in recent times, Australian singer Dan Schumann (Tenors In Rock) is now fronting the band. Hence 2023’s comeback album ‘Reconnected’ is now upon us.
The Songs
What I’m hearing so far on the album is promising. Hurricane delivers a rowdy platter in places, it has an edge to it but with more denim in the mix. Understandably, there’s a hint of classic rock in there too, judging by a handful of tracks. You can read about each song further on in this article.
‘Rock Star Cheater’ gets things underway with an out/out rocker, perhaps a touch of Motley Crüe in the mix, not so much musically but more about the rip shit and bust attitude. Dan Schumann announces himself immediately, an inspired recruit indeed. ‘You And I’ presents with a tight and compressed sound, not as freewheeling as the first track, though the guitar soloing from Sarzo is definitely a touch manic.
Next up is an unusual addition with a cover of Queen‘s hit ‘Under Pressure’. I didn’t care much for the original and this dislike continues well into the future. ‘Behind Your Shadow’ slows the tempo down to crawl speed and by now my concern is at red alert levels. What’s going on here? Thankfully, Hurricane resume normal transmission with ‘Innocent Girl’, this track is very guitar centric.
‘Don’t Change Your Love’ continues this full frontal guitar assault, and by now I’m reassured that Hurricane are back on the path. Sort of.. ‘I’m On To You’ (a revamped older Hurricane track) is a bit ‘hit/miss’ for me, the na-na-na’s on the chorus didn’t do anything, ‘Hand Of Souls’ goes in a different direction altogether, the acoustic guitar fills reminding me of bands like Tesla and Tangier.
‘Disconnected’ isn’t exactly pure hard rock either, it’s a hybrid of numerous things actually. Not quite sure of this one. ‘Blind Love’ presents as a chant-a-long tune which didn’t impact my senses whatsoever, the finale ‘Wishing Well’ features plucky acoustic guitar and nothing else, other than melodic lead and backing vocals.
In Summary
‘Reconnected’ comes across as a very uneven set. Mostly it’s a stripped back sound, the production is good for what it is, but it’s missing something. I would’ve preferred a subtle hint of keyboards to fill out the sound more. There are none.
It’s fair to say that Hurricane’s return to the public domain is most welcome, but apart from a couple of tracks taken from this album, their forthcoming live sets could be a challenge to listeners. The band never really had any breakout hit singles to fall back on which people would remember, unlike their rivals of the day such as Great White, Autograph , Ratt and Quiet Riot. I’m not quite certain how it will all pan out for Hurricane but good luck to them nonetheless.
Hurricane on Video
Rock Star Cheater
