Not For The Innocent CD Review by Stefan Sileghem for Metal To Infinity website-5/14/2009-The Netherlands.
To see tha actual review, click HERE
CAROLINE BLUE-NOT FOR THE INNOCENT-INDEPENDENT
Time for some real American music, more specifically described as a mixture between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal played in a vintage, groovy way. By using ‘the net’, I stay in contact with Caroline Blue’s mastermind Wayne W. Johnson during a few years now – each time a new work is ready to unleash he send a copy to review on Metal To Infinity webzine – thx a ton bro!
O, CB is not a stranger for our webzine… through an interview I had quite a while ago, Wayne told me about the early days of existence and plenty more… feel free to check it out right HERE. His favourite musician is Paul Stanley from Kiss fame and that is something he can’t hide while doing his job as singer. On previous Caroline Blue releases, it was obvious all over who were the inspirations came from.
On the new album ”Not For The Innocent”, there is a progress noticeable – also, a big step in straight to originality is remarkable. Especially his vocal use on the new album is better than ever before to me… individuals never heard Wayne’s before, well let me give it a try to describe as a blend of Paul Stanley (Kiss), Mat Barlow (Iced Earth) and a bit of Joey Belladonna from Anthrax. Take this for what it’s worth … always better to find out and make up your own mind you know! Big step forward concerning the vocal use, Wayne also takes control over all guitar and bass duties on ”NFTI” which is actually an independent release. Pity for a great band like CB but that’s the way it goes in the world of Rock and Metal nowadays. You know my vision about that case: sometimes unreal / bad sounding bands walk away with a record deal while real good formations left behind without a contract. It’s not fair to me but what to do about it eh…
Twelve new songs on ”Not For The Innocent”, the production is real good and the most important fact above all is that the music will Rock your brains out for sure. Driven by hard ripping, groovy guitars – this output really hits the deck pretty hard and mean as hell. It all took some time to complete everything to unleash finally but it was worth to wait definitely. Heavy, groovy and melodic with lots of ‘classic’ vibes, these present songs are ‘not for the innocent’ but for ‘real hard rock ‘n’ rolling maniacs only who likes it rough, loud and heavy… going crazy is the only way out!
Make a fist, stand your ground and krank it up with songs like ‘Our Love Is Wasted’, ‘Love Me Or Leave Me’, ‘Pain’, ‘I’ve Seen The Light Tonight’,…. To me, ‘Not For The Innocent’ is Caroline Blue’s best album up to date – especially fanatics of Classic Hard Rock and Metal music will be impressed with this product. Watch for Caroline Blue at: http://carolineblue.com/ or via Myspace by clicking HERE. MY POINTS: 85 / 100
CAROLINE BLUE 