COVERED CALL
"Money Never Sleeps" (Blistering;
2009)
Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton
Based on the cover, you might guess Covered Call is a Japanese techno-band. I
know I did. Boy, was I wrong.
Instead, most of "Money Never Sleeps" is pure 80s metal / AOR that's just a little slicker than bands like Axe but not quite as slick as the big radio hits of Bon Jovi. The vocals are excellent, the guitar crunchy and the production excellent, if perhaps a little overdone. Speaking of the vocals, there's a reason they stand out so well: the vocalist is none other than Thomas Vikstrom, formerly of Candlemass and Therion and he doesn't dissapoint here.
The best track on the CD is "Shine," with its soaring choruses and hooks that grab you but don't inject you with a saccharine sweetness. The same can't be said for the album's token ballad, "Anything You Want," a schmaltzy piece which is nothing more than a piano and a vocalist and grates on the nerves like bad Muzak. Thankfully, most of the tracks here are more like the aforementioned "Shine" and the title track which are solid AOR.
Of course, if you're not a fan of AOR, then "Money Never Sleeps" won't interest you. It's a textbook example of pure AOR. If that's not to your taste, then this CD won't be either.
By the way, if you're wondering about the band's name, Wikipedia describes it thus: "A covered call is a transaction in which the seller of call options already owns the corresponding amount of the underlying instrument, such as shares of a stock or other securities." Yeah, it didn't help me much, either.
Covered Call: Ronny Svanstromer - Drums; Thomas Vikstrom - Lead vocals; Joel Carlsson - Guitar; Thomas Thulin - Bass; Morgan Rosenquist - Guitar.
For more information, check out http://www.myspace.com/coveredcall.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2009 by R.
Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
Revised:
29 Mar 2021 13:24:54 -0500 .
