Unlike the debut, Signal Red’s second effort didn’t stun me in the same way, for me, the issue with ‘Alien Nation’ is that the music didn’t flow at all, the guitar work was very overwhelming while the guitar tone for the solos ended up being irritating.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Signal Red
ALBUM: Alien Nation
LABEL: Escape Music
SERIAL: ESM 346
YEAR: 2020
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Lee Small – vocals * Steve Grocott – guitars, keyboards, strings * Brian J Anthony – bass * Dave Anthony – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Wide Awake In Dreamland * 02 Email To God * 03 Insomnia * 04 Dance Macabre * 05 Invisible Scars * 06 Ghosts * 07 Rocket Fuel * 08 Awakenings * 09 Tide Of Life * 10 Pure Shores * 11 Alien Nation * 12 Standing On Top Of The World
RATING: 50/100
WEBLINKS: Record Label
Background
Signal Red came to our attention back in 2018 due to their Escape Music debut ‘Under The Radar’. It got a good review from us at the time. The band/project is essentially the duo of guitarist Steve Grocott and singer Lee Small. Signal Red’s tough brand of hard rock continues a second time around though from where I sat, it wasn’t as immediate as before.
The Songs
The tinker box opening to ‘Wide Awake In Dreamland’ belies the tough riffs to follow, but it just didn’t grab. That’s a worry from the outset. Stylistically, the songs are just all over the place. It was a difficult job requiring a load of endurance to get through listening to ‘Alien Nation’. Lee Small’s voice just sounded far too wired and amped. There wasn’t too much in the way of subtlety throughout.
Unlike the debut, this second effort didn’t stun me in the same way. For me, the issue with ‘Alien Nation’ is that the music didn’t flow at all, the guitar work was very overwhelming while the guitar tone for the solos ended up being irritating. The lowlight being the utterly painful ‘Invisible Scars’. Aural torture.
In Summary
I don’t think I need to say much more. 2020 has seen some very nice albums being released, unfortunately this is not one of them.
Video
Pure Shores
