{"id":71314,"date":"2018-05-28T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T00:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=71314"},"modified":"2018-08-01T16:58:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T16:58:00","slug":"album-review-rox-diamond-let-the-music-do-the-talkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-rox-diamond-let-the-music-do-the-talkin\/","title":{"rendered":"ROX DIAMOND – Let The Music Do The Talkin\u2019 (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROX DIAMOND
Let The Music Do The Talkin\u2019<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLions Pride Music (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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With a line-up consisting of Paul Daniels (vocals and keyboards), Kevin Achenbach (guitar), Elliot Mayhew (bass) and Mike Hansen (drums), American hard rockers Rox Diamond are back with a bang in the form of their third full-length studio record Let The Music Do The Talkin\u2019<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Damn, 1991 seems a world away from when I purchased the Los Angeles-based band\u2019s self-titled debut, which was a record \u2013 although solid \u2013 seemingly just too late for the boat. Somehow so was 2005\u2019s Powerdrive<\/em>, and yet although sporadic to say the least, Rox Diamond are also persistent and have emerged with 12 sauntering and swaggering tracks to clear the cobwebs. <\/p>\n

Just like Bulletboys, Rox Diamond clearly has a knack for the flavoursome, the funky and pompous, seemingly brimming with confidence and buoyancy as the catchy, struttin\u2019 title track displays \u2013 with hints of Van Halen, and then Extreme \u2013 the soulful vocal croon, the choppy riffs and that nifty drum. Then there are the steady yet fiery rockers, one such example being the cool \u2018Just Wanting You\u2019 which is opposed by the slow-burning ballad \u2018Two Hearts\u2019. \u2018Two Hearts\u2019 builds to an infectious and harmonious chorus; in a sense, it has a classic AOR feel but hey, let\u2019s continue to randomly pluck the tunes from this rather pleasant and joyous opus. <\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Savannah Blue\u2019 has a swift and airy feel; again with hints of Van Halen, there\u2019s that bluster to the guitar and drum tandem, and that almost strained power to the vocals. In contrast, \u2018You Can Never Love Somebody Too Hard\u2019 is sweet and subtle on the keys. A sizzling ballad, \u2018You Can Never Love Somebody Too Hard\u2019 is matched by the equally exquisite \u2018Yesterday Is Gone\u2019 with its almost stark piano prod, but elsewhere there\u2019s an almost playfulness about the more uptempo rockers on offer. <\/p>\n

\u2018Angeline\u2019 is a steady mid-paced rocker with a breezy chorus, while \u2018Never Say Goodbye\u2019 begins with a nice funky groove and sugary hook. \u2018The Way I Feel\u2019 has a driving prowess to its sturdy rhythm as does \u2018Midnight Girl\u2019, but a big favourite of mine is the excellent \u2018Hold Our Heads Up High\u2019 \u2013 another power ballad of hypnotic quality. <\/p>\n

And yet strangely, in spite of numerous gems on offer, the record feels somewhat restrained. Is it the production? There does appear to be a distinctive lack of oomph, Rox Diamond for the most part opting for tight, concise melodic rockers bereft of any real metallic edge.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, do not let that put you off what is essentially a rather comfortable and cosy return, although they may not agree with such underwhelming words.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROX DIAMONDLet The Music Do The Talkin\u2019 Lions Pride Music (2018)Rating: 7\/10 With a line-up consisting of Paul Daniels (vocals and keyboards), Kevin Achenbach (guitar), Elliot Mayhew (bass) and Mike Hansen (drums), American hard rockers Rox Diamond are back with a bang in the form of their third full-length studio record Let The Music Do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4084],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-rox-diamond"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71314"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71319,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71314\/revisions\/71319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}