If there’s anything the world collectively needed right now, it’s a new Eclipse record. Granted, we’re not in the complete state of disarray that we were in last year. Live music is a thing again, which is more than could be said a mere six months ago. That said, as long as we’re in this bizarre Groundhog Day scenario saddled between normalcy and “the new norm”, I’ll take all the uplifting, empowering, melodic rock n’ roll I can get. Wired not only showcases Eclipse’s high energy bravado, but pushes it to the point of overload.
In my interview with Eclipse frontman Erik Mårtensson, he described Wired as “up tempo” and having “a little bit more of a punk attitude”. Now by punk, he’s not referring to the typical studs and leather, mohawked clichés us Americans associate with the genre, but rather the carefree, party ’til you pass out mentality of fellow Scandi punks The Hellacopters and Turbonegro. If you take that stripped down honesty and couple it with an unabashed love for old school arena rock, you get Wired.
The last few Eclipse albums since their 2012 masterpiece, Bleed & Scream, have more or less followed in the same template. You’ve got a blend of this aforementioned stadium shaking hard rock, ass kicking euro steel which borders on power metal, and a healthy dose of dreamlike AOR to balance it all out. Wired sees the band dialing down their metal and AOR tendencies, in exchange for doubling down on the hard rock side of things. Cuts like “Dying Breed”, “Saturday Night (Hallelujah)”, and “Twilight” sees Eclipse in AC/DC mode. The riffs, drum fills, vocals, and melodies all sound interconnected, practically to the point of redundancy, but rock so hard that you’d have to be a heartless bastard to not enjoy it.
Taking this into account, my favorite tracks on Wired are the ones that deviate from this mold. One such highlight is “Bite the Bullet”, the album’s sole heavy metal headbanger. With its crunchy riffs, alluring guitar melodies, and 80s sheen, I can’t help but imagine “Bite the Bullet” is what The Ultimate Sin era Ozzy Osbourne would’ve sounded like if he had recorded the album in Sweden instead of the UK. Other highlights include the nocturnal AOR of “Run for Cover”, the Thin Lizzy tinged “Things We Love”, and my choice cut, “Dead Inside”, which closes Wired on an epic and dynamic note. I would love to hear Eclipse attempt an entire album of these types of songs, but that’s just the prog AOR nerd in me (Magnum anyone?).
Would I have preferred Wired to offer more stylistically and sonically speaking? Yes, but that doesn’t make it bad album, or even a mediocre one for that matter. It succeeds in its mission of being a feel good party rock album. And since the chances of another AC/DC album are slim to none, I’ll take what I can get. To Erik and the rest of the Eclipse gang, I raise my glasses to you. Cheers, or as they say in Sweden, skål!
6 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: AOR
For fans of: H.E.A.T, Talisman, AC/DC