A wonderful return from a great band.

Anyone wondering what had happened to Steelheart may be interested to know that their first new album since 2008's 'Good 2B Alive' will soon be released on Frontiers Records.

You might then ask what does it sound like? In summary, it's an album pretty much split fifty-fifty between Hard Rock and epic ballads, so if you were waiting for a return to the style of their first release, you won't find it here. However, I have to say I absolutely love this album, from the opening Led Zeppelin-tinged opener 'Stream Line Savings' through the frantic 'My Dirty Girl' and epic orchestrated ballad 'With Love We Live Again' to the closing acoustic and beautiful 'I'm So In Love With You'. This is an immense piece of work covering a range of styles and I can't find a weak track among the ten on offer.

The production is huge and expansive with a great balance between instruments and vocal, and it sounds amazing on headphones but even better when cranked up on the hi-fi. Fans of Miljenko Matijevic need not worry about his vocal ability, he is incredible and still hits plenty of high notes throughout, with the rest of the players putting in great performances too.

However, I must add that this album is not an instant fix, and it needs time before the numerous layers reveal themselves and the songs get lodged in your memory banks. After my first few listens, I was underwhelmed overall, but after living with it for a while, that disappointment gave way and I will be surprised if this doesn't make my Top Ten come the end of the year.

If I have one complaint it's that apart from one song, all the heavier tracks make up the first half of the album and the slower songs cover the second half. It would have been better to mix them up a bit. Other than that, it's a wonderful return from a great band and deserves to be heard; therefore, I urge you to please check it out.

Carl Noonan