Pokerface - Life's A Gamble

Tracks :-

Ordinary Day
Missing In Moscow
For You
Scars
Hearts Gone Crazy
Read Between The Lines
Run
Road To Paradise
Make Me A Believer
Looks Like It's Over

Total playing time: 44.27 m:s

Year : 1996
Label : Escape Music Ltd
Producer : Kenny "Kaos" Loney

If I tell you that the album features Kenny Loney (Project X) and Darcy Deutsch (ex-Prism), this may help some of you. I have to admit that they're new names to me. However I do recognise the name of Paul Dean from Loverboy at the mixing desk. So was it a case of "Lovin' every minute of it" ? (groan.....)

Well, no. Mentioning the word "ordinary" in the opening song title was perhaps prophetic. That's my overall impression of this album. It's just so ordinary. Not good, but not particularly bad either.

I've already mentioned Loverboy and it looks like I'm going to continue to use them as the reference point. Pokerface occupy the same musical territory - commercial hard rock. However, they're not as polished as Loverboy. I'm not particularly keen on the vocalist. He tends to adopt a higher pitched metal style especially on the choruses.

The fact that Kenny had a hand in writing it and the presence of Paul Dean means that it's not surprising that the Loverboy song "For You" makes an appearance. It not a bad version, but it really doesn't add a new perspective to the original.

The other songs worth a mention are the uptempo "Read Between The Lines" and the album highlight "Make Me A Believer". If there had been a few more songs in the class of the latter, I'd have a lot more enthusiasm for this album.

Rating : 5/6