Lazy Bonez - Alive (2015)

Genre - Melodic Rock / Hard 'N' Heavy

Label - E·X·R METAL Records

Track listing:

01 - Evil Mind
02 - Sweet Girl
03 - Alive
04 - Jesus He Knows Me
05 - Overload
06 - Racing Heart
07 - Lonely
08 - Last Rites
09 - Devil's Dice
10 - Hard Times
11 - Final Rhyme

Finnish band, Lazy Bonez  return with their second album in the form of "Alive", a pretty darn solid effort it is too!
Now we have to get some cleared up very early on here, Lazy Bonez have two very distinct sides to them, one hook laden catchy eighties inspired melodic rock, suck as on tracks like the driving 'Evil Mind' which is akin to Pretty Maids, or the AOR-ish "Sweet Girl" with plenty of keyboards and harmony vocals and a catchy Brother Firetribe feel, or the meaty mid-tempo title track "Alive" with some early Nineties Europe on it. And then there is the heavier side to Lazy Bonez that provides an effective balance to the record, such as can be found on tracks like "Racing Heart", a song that was especially composed for the vocal talents of one Mr. Tony Martin who appears as guest on the track, a groovy and at the same time melodic track much in the style of Eightiess Black Sabbath. (The main reason for me looking into this album in the first place!)Then another legend shares vocals on the pretty epic mid-tempo "Devil's Dice",  Uriah Heep's Bernie Shaw,  while "Final Rhyme" sports an '80s Accept spirit to it. There is also the ridiculously catchy melodic rocker "Lonely" (I Love it!), the sweet "Hard Times" or the great "Last Rites". So as you can see, with 'Alive', Lazy Bonez really do seem to cover all of the hard rock bases.

But whilst such versatility is certainly to be commended, it does sometimes leave the listener sometimes second guessing the bands intended direction, and in my opinion stunts the albums continuity a little. With that being said, 'Alive' is still worth checking out, even if only to cherry pick certain tracks into your playlists, such as 'Lonely' and 'Racing Heart'!

Worth Checking Out

Rating - 7/10