House of Lords – Cartesian Dreams

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The continuously changing House of Lords line-up now features former Yngwie Malmsteen/Driver drummer B.J. Zampa, guitar shredder Jimi Bell and bassist Matt McKenna, with original vocalist James Christian handling keyboards. They are still basically what most rock fans wished Def Leppard were, and they’re probably doing it as well as ever. Fun, upbeat and, above all, rocking. Meaty riffs (A Simple Plan, Cartesian Dreams), tasteful takes on 1980s solos (Bangin’, Repo Man), and a mixture of groove, grandiosity and straight-ahead, driving rhythm. While the lyrics are probably just as clichéd as Leppard’s (Saved By Rock, seriously), musically they’re everything a classic hard rock band should be and with just the one ballad during most of the album (until strong closer The Train, which is their Road To Nowhere) the focus is very much on the heavy rock sound. More mature lyrics would be the only thing that could be changed on this album to improve it, and their absence is the only thing to lose the disc a point, but everything else is almost note-perfect.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, House of Lords