Paradise returns with their third album, a self-titled pop metal formulary that has radio play written all over it.
Almost twenty years ago, Paradise was pulled together as a band by Frank Kelly and Jet Phil. They released a couple of albums, then parted ways to work on other projects. Now the band is back together with a new album and a new line-up: Frank Kelly (guitars), Fred Kelly (bass), RL Black (vocals), Fred Crew Grrr (guitars) and Mat Hias (drums). The musical approach is to write catchy hooks and riffs, which is a good idea if you are going for broad appeal. The music on this album reminds me a little bit of Black Star Riders, maybe even the Dead Daisies, but Paradise is certainly more metal influenced and it is a great deal buzzier. In some ways the songs are reminiscent of hair and glam metal, but punchier and recorded better. Mötley Crüe, a little bit, because of the heavier guitar work. And no ballads. That’s important. No ballads.
The album opens with “Straight From Hell” and it is an adrenaline high. It is an unmistakable straight forward rock construction of verse-bridge-chorus, repeat, repeat, and the dial is set on stadium anthem. RL Black’s vocals are about as rock and roll as you can get – strong clean singing with a gruff edge. The lead breaks are short to fit in with the song structure, and they are pretty metal. I like the brand they have going here. It is great driving music, great drinking music. I would be stoked to see Paradise on the list of bands at a festival because you can just feel from these songs that they are going to put on a good show on stage. The next song is “Hitting On All Sixes” and it is another racer, with more great riffs and hooks. In fact, the music doesn’t really slow down at all, even when the tempo is a bit slower on a couple of the songs. It is a good hard rock album. I am glad Paradise went back into the studio to put this one together.
Paradise is out now at Bandcamp and Spotify and all the usual places. If you search by “Paradise” you are going to get a lot of false positives. Try searching by the title of the single, “Straight From Hell,” or hit the Bandcamp link below.
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