Velocity - Impact
You Don't Amaze Me Anymore
Julia Ann
Supernatural Lover
She's Been Around
Janine
Riot Goin' On
More Than Tonight
Love Is Dangerous
One Minute To Midnight
Open Road
Label: MTM Music
Year: 1998
Duration: 44:36
Review date: August 1998
Velocity were the first band I know of who made good use of the internet to raise their profile & I'm sure this helped in securing a recording contract. Their demo tape seems to have been reviewed at quite a few of the sites I've visited. Hell, founder member David Victor must have explored the far reaches of the net, because he even managed to find himself at Mood Swings on a couple of occasions. Velocity is David Victor on vocals, guitars & bass, and Chris Dodge on lead guitars. Pat Torpey of Mr Big does the skin bashing on the album.
With quite a few good reviews under their belt and the general buzz there has been about the band, I thought it was about time I checked them out. I wanted to see if they were any good, or merely an example of a successful internet marketing campaign.
Velocity play melodic hard rock. Good old fashioned melodic hard rock. Some people might say hard AOR. Forget about all the latest trends. I can't think of any direct comparisons, but if you're into stuff like Giant, Hardline, Y&T, Red Dawn, Night Ranger, Billy Squire, Firehouse, Def Leppard, Loverboy etc, then this is right up your street.
Opening track, You Don't Amaze Me Anymore, is a bit of a low-key start. Julia Ann is better. Better still is Supernatural Lover, which the first track to make me sit up and pay attention. She's Been Around features some tasty lead guitar work. Janine is a power ballad that most people seem to have heard about, as it is all about a lady who makes a living displaying her assets. Riot Goin' On is a 80's metal rocker. More Than Tonight is a radio friendly tune that reminds me of Boston. Love Is Dangerous is well-executed hard rock. One Minute To Midnight is a slight change in style which might sound familiar (Firehouse's Lover Lane). The album finishes with an instrumental than reminds me of Thin Lizzy.
It has all been done before. Velocity isn't exactly pushing back the frontiers of hard rock here. However, Velocity make 80's hard rock sound cool in 1998. This is well-executed melodic hard rock, which I'm sure most Mood Swings readers would enjoy.
Rating: 8
