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Lusty and uptempo stuff that splits the difference between ‘80s-style metal and ‘80s style hard rock with occasional and ill-advised forays into glam-oriented fluff, dopey blues-rock and post-grunge mainstream rock drivel, Messenger’s I'm Talking to You provides a nice overall diversion for the bulk of its twelve song playlist. At its best, this thing conjures true metal magic on “King of Kings,” “Special Delivery” and the careening-for-2:38 “Roar,” replete with stirring riffs, guitar-and-keyboard interplay perfect for any Riot or Manowar fan. At its worst, you have an all-thumbs opener like “Hell Is No Party,” which sounds like an invitation to the dullest L.A. glam orgy in history, or a clunky power ballad such as “Forbidden Love,” which sounds like something Tesla half-wrote and palmed off to Daughtry, which was then reduced to simpering, over-enunciated earnestness. One just wants to wrench frontman Frank Clifton Herring loose from his concessions to modern rock formula and tell him to belt out clarion screams like you know he wants to! Still, this thing hits for better than 0.500, with a good six or seven tracks out of twelve doing what they need to when they need to do it. Alas, this one also comes with a caveat emptor: if Christian lyrics be not your thing (and they ain’t mine), this one will grate you to the point of screaming. There’s something to be said for nuance and implication, and then there’s the sort of imploring and proselytizing such as on display here that makes you feel as though the music is actually secondary to the message. Given the band’s moniker, I’ve got no one to blame but my ol’ lonesome.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Hell Is No Party |
| 2. King of Kings |
| 3. Bright and Morning Star |
| 4. Don't Shoot the Messenger |
| 5. Special Delivery |
| 6. Forbidden Love |
| 7. Wallowing in the Mire |
| 8. The Rapture |
| 9. Roar |
| 10. Chained |
| 11. America, Why? |
| 12. So Good |
: 44:59
| Buy other Messenger albums |
