If you’ve had the misfortune of stumbling upon any metal news or review site over the past week that isn’t mine, then you’re more then aware by now that Neurosis surprise released their first album in a decade this past Friday. Considering I live in a city riddled with the insufferable flannel-clad, beanie-headed, IPA-drinking chuds that this band calls a fanbase, you’d think this event was on par with the second coming of Christ, or at the very least a Jordan-led Bulls championship. Speaking for myself, I’m much more interested and invested in ANOTHER band who released their first album in a decade this past Friday, Tyketto.
Going off the hype of niche AOR circles alone, it’s easy to surmise Tyketto as one of the finest melodic rock bands of all time. Indeed, 1991’s Don’t Come Easy and 1994’s Strength in Numbers are masterpieces of their respective era and scene. And yet if you uttered the band’s name to your everyday fan of similarly natured acts like say Def Leppard, Journey, Whitesnake, or even Night Ranger, chances are you’d be met with a blank stare. The sad reality is that Tyketto are another textbook example of “right place, wrong time”, their unique brand of hard rock being completely swept away by the ’90s Nirvanapocalypse, as I like to call it.
In the years since their initial run, the band reunited, performing sporadically and releasing music even more sporadically, which leads us to the strongest of these reunion era albums to date, Closer to the Sun. If nothing else, Tyketto are a band who prioritizes quality over quantity. If it takes a decade to release an album, so be it. Just know that it won’t be phoned in. This band pours their heart and soul into every aspect of their releases, even 35 years since they initially debuted. Closer to the Sun is no exception, boasting all the trademarks one would come to expect from the band by now, executed with the same level of vitality and dedication.
Ageless frontman Danny Vaughn leads the charge, his warm, soulful vocals channeling those of Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale, and Phil Mogg, to name a few. It’s no wonder his first big break came singing for Pete Way’s post-UFO outfit, Waysted. Whether it’s crisp, punchy hard rockers like “Higher Than High” or “Bad for Good”, or AOR-flavored ballads like “Starts with a Feeling” or “The Picture”, Vaughn’s vocals compliment the band effortlessly, firing on all cylinders and staying true to the original incarnation’s roots. Throw in a reckless Whitesnake-esque barroom rocker like “Donnowhuddidis” for good measure, and you’ve got a fulfilling old school hard rock effort.
Armed with a powerhouse throat, singer-songwriter introspection, and a lineup that gets the job done, Danny Vaughn does both the Tyketto name and legacy proud with Closer to the Sun. It’s certainly a cut above your typical “assembly line” release of this nature, if only for the character it boasts alone. Assuming he continues to release new music at this rate, Vaughn will be 74 by the time we next hear from Tyketto, but when you’re on a streak so hot you can hang with the sun, why wait that long? One day we’ll have to nail this “Forever Young” frontman down for an interrogation!
8 out of 10
Label: Silver Lining Music
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Thunder, FM, Whitesnake
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