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ELDORADO
"Babylonia Haze" (Self-produced;
2015)
Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton
If you're one of those people who say they don't make
music like they used to, prepare to eat your words. Eldorado's "Babylonia Haze"
is an album that brings back everything great about 70s hard rock and makes it
all their own here in the present as well.
With their upfront keyboard, their blistering leads and their driving rhythms,
Eldorado will have you imagining what Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Whitesnake and
the like would have sounded like if they started today rather than back in the
60s and 70s. Eldorado doesn't hide their keyboard sound, like many bands do
today, but instead embraces it, making it part of their music just like Deep
Purple and Emerson Lake and Palmer always did. But it's certainly not all about
keyboard. As you'd expect, the guitars are the most important thing here and
they drive the music forward, both with crunchy chords and those aforementioned
leads, leads that fit the song rather than were just squeezed in there to give
the lead guitarist a showcase.
Although most of the songs are hard rock classics, there are a couple slower
songs that might qualify as the standard "rock ballad," but thankfully, they're
not saccharin sweet and maudlin. The complement the rest of the album rather
than stand apart from it. And that's saying a lot.
If you're a fan of 70s classic rock and its sound, give Eldorado a try. They're
not a carbon copy or a tribute to the sound of that era but a fresh new look at
it. And that's something to be celebrated.
For more information, check out
http://www.eldoradorockband.com.
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 © 2016 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
