Gotthard – Lipservice

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impulse buy

Nuclear Blast
Produced by Leo Leoni & Ronald Prent

Two great Swiss rock albums in one year? First Pure Inc. and now Gotthard have released a new album of well-crafted quality hard rock in 2005. Remarkable.

Gotthard have been around a little longer than Pure Inc., however. The band released their eponymous debut album in 1992 and Lipservice is their eighth release to date. Between those two releases the band have enjoyed a triple platinum selling album (Homerun), a number one single (Heaven) and recorded the official Swiss Olympic song (One Team One Spirit). Gotthard have become somewhat of an institution in Europe, and with Lipservice and its two singles Lift ‘U’ Up and Round And Round, they look set to continue on their gradual rise to the top.

Lipservice is a huge fourteen track album with three additional bonus tracks on the special edition. As with most hard rock bands the album is a nice mixture of rockers and ballads, but where some bands (stand up Bon Jovi) sour the mix with too many ballads, Gotthard have got it just right. The album opens on a high. The bright and bouncy All We Are begins with a drum intro before a very upbeat guitar riff and very Klaus Meine-esque (Scorpions) vocals, especially in the chorus. A good start. The band then steps up a gear with the hard rocking Dream On (not an Aerosmith cover), before first single Lift ‘U’ Up returns to happy-town in true fist-beating arena fashion. Elsewhere the band are in full rock mode again with Cupid’s Arrow, I’m Alive and Stay For The Night.

The trouble is, every song sounds like someone else. Gotthard owe a great deal of their sound to Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Y&T and Bon Jovi. Rather unashamedly so in some cases. For example, if Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple) sang for Bon Jovi, the ballads I’ve Seen An Angel Cry and And Then Goodbye are what you’d get. I Wonder is pure stadium rock era Whitesnake in the verses and Scorpions in the chorus, and Everything I Want (another ballad) is as close as you can possibly get to a Def Leppard cover without it actually being a Def Leppard song.

However, as unoriginal as the music may be, it’s still a solid album. Every track is strong and Steve Lee’s vocals are superb throughout. Guitar duo Leo Leoni and Freddy Scherer are very tight and between them deliver the perfect mix of hard hitting riffs (Dream On, I’m Alive and Anytime Anywhere) and delicate melodies (And Then Goodbye). Anyone who is a fan of any of the bands mentioned in this review will like Gotthard and will love this album. If you like things a little harder than Def Leppard and Bon Jovi, this is possibly not for you.

“ solid ”

Tracklist: All We Are / Dream On / Lift ‘U’ Up / Everything I Want / Cupid’s Arrow / I Wonder / I’m Alive / I’ve Seen An Angel Cry / Stay For The Night / Anytime Anywhere / Said And Done / Other Side of Me / Nothing Left At All / And Then Goodbye
Special Edition Bonus Tracks: Can’t Stop / Nobody Home / Round And Round

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Gotthard