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Everything goes in cycles, and it seems the latest nostalgia
trip takes us to the 1980s, the pre-grunge era that was about
nothing more than sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
Enter Taking Dawn, a band whose debut album, Time to Burn,
somewhat surprisingly comes to us from Roadrunner Records.
The band hails from Las Vegas, which—also somewhat surprisingly—has
produced few hard rock/metal bands over the years.
Taking Dawn is not just a throwback band, however. Sure,
they have the attitude and big hooks of a modern-day Skid
Row and gang vocals in the style of Def Leppard. But it’s
fused with an edgier, more aggressive approach that brings
to mind Avenged Sevenfold or Blessed by a Broken Heart (minus
the hardcore-style vocals and keyboards).
The band states its intent straight from the get-go on the
anthemic title track: “Homicidal, kill your idols/Your
heroes are whores and your only god is you,” and later,
“This is the time, this is the word/Let me hear you
sing halle-fuckin’-lujah.” Now, don’t get
the idea that Taking Dawn is a band that spends all its time
railing against religion—they’d just rather put
their faith in a loud guitar.
There’s no deep thinking here and no attempt to do
anything that many other bands haven’t done before them.
But it’s something not a lot of bands do today—good-time
music that is an end in and of itself, straddling the line
between hard rock and metal. And guitar solos, glorious guitar
solos. That’s the thing about those ‘80s bands.
They may have looked ridiculous, written some cheesy songs
and eventually oversaturated the market—but those guys
could play their instruments. Having new bands influenced
by that era is a victory for musicianship.
®2010 Live-Metal.net
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