Rock Company 2025
Life’s What You Make It
Edging towards their 30th year on stage, German hard rock heroes turn homespun philosophy into arena allure.
During the long time they’ve been around, this group never allowed an eight-year gap between albums, but “Life’s What You Make It” is special not only because it puts a stop to such a long delay; it also marks the ensemble’s return to English lyrics after three platters sung in the players’ native tongue, and again, there’s more than one reason for that. Of the ten pieces forming its core, a few are fresh versions of the trio’s early cuts, and its finale offers a gorgeous piano-laden take on SPANDAU BALLET’s “Through The Barricades” – which on physical media opens a window into the band’s love for the ’80’s pop, with four more heavy covers, including DURAN DURAN’s “Union Of The Snake” and “Everything Counts” from DEPECHE MODE’s repertoire. So the historical context must matter here.
From the moment “I Want Out” revs into view on Markus Pfeffer’s high-octane riff to meet Stephan Hugo’s honeyed vocal harmonies onwards, until the instant speedy mini-epic “Run Away” dissipates into silence, sweet AOR-flavored escapism and stadium sway rule the game on this record to sweep the listeners off their feet. The audience should appreciate the infectious pop scope of “Reach For The Sky” where the collective’s interplay is at its tightest, and the dance grooves of “Follow Me” where ivories bolster the drive, while the album’s title track explores soulful rocking via frantic refrain, and “PerSonality” harks back to the Kaiserslautern combo’s halcyon days. So even though “I Don’t Know” that deals with the vagaries of technology has an industrial edge, punctuated by Bernd Schreiber funky bass, and “After The Storm” goes disco one more time, they share the warm emotionality the trio project on each of their works.
It was worth waiting for, to say the least.
****
