A great sounding album of solid, competent, "timeless" Rock, where British Steel meets American AOR.

Talk about prolific. 'Animal Inside' is Legion's seventh album in less than five years; any way you look at it, that's not bad going. Vocalist Phil Vincent and guitarist Vince O'Regan clearly tickle each other's song-writing fancies and the result is a seemingly endless stream of Melodic Metal that, temporarily at least, sates their creative urges and keeps their fans happy.

"We want to create great sounding, fist-pumping, ass-kicking, timeless music, just like our heroes," Vincent told Fireworks back in Issue 64. Well, with 'Animal...' they certainly have   The general production is classy – icy and atmospheric, evoking memories of Hair Metal Whitesnake or early Queensrÿche perhaps. Vincent's vocals add warmth and gloss over the intentionally jagged Metallic edges. The sound is big, familiar and welcoming. So what of the songs? Most start in promising, uplifting fashion, courtesy of O'Regan's impressive riffs. Some tracks deliver on the early promise, and some don't.

Opener 'Fantasy', with its 'Bark At The Moon' style-riff, 'Standing Alone' and 'Black Cloud' are tracks that probably do the guitar work justice, while closer 'Don't Mean Nothing' and 'Turn Back Time' have me sitting on the fence. The latter offers a storming opening to what, traditionally, would have been the "second side" – and the familiar, old-school feel of this album is certainly a strength.

Pick of tracks for me is 'Roll The Dice' which announces itself with a riff straight out of the Billy Duffy song-book and the album's most catchy chorus. Also worthy of mention is the ballad-like 'Come Back To Me', which features a smooth vocal performance, nice choral effects and one of the album's stand out solos.

There is nothing to dislike here. But I do find myself wondering how much of the material really lifts Legion and 'Animal Inside' above the heel-snapping pack and the also-rans. I'm not entirely convinced that there's quite enough fist-pumping and ass-kicking going on, although there is enough of it on offer for me to encourage you to grab a copy and make your own mind up.

After all, I had my doubts about the Hair Metal version of Whitesnake too.

Michael Anthony