D’Ercole – ‘Hard Core’

(Rock Company)

Phil Vincent returns with D’Ercole and as I have come to expect from Vincent he always gives us something solid to wrap our ear holes around! With Hard Core though this isn’t just a solid release it’s a really enjoyable one and certainly one of D’Ercole’s best! How Vincent manages to maintain the standard of song writing he does always surprise me, but rather than over think it I think we should just enjoy it whilst he is still delivering regular quality melodic rock.

I found the overall atmosphere of the album to be quite upbeat and bright which is a great contrast to some of Vincent’s other work and bands. To be fair I have found Vincent to be pushing in a lighter direction in recent years, he did write a lot of stuff that was dark edged or have strong melancholic tones for a long period. I think his ever-shifting writing gears helps keep his music fresh and from a fans perspective it stops things becoming too familiar and becoming less intriguing. He certainly delivers something here that screams of all his trademarks and you know it’s Vincent to the core, but it is powerfully fresh and certainly entertaining!

For me Hard Core is one of Vincent’s most overtly Eighties rock sounding albums. He’s never one to shy away from showing his influences proudly within his song writing but here, it feels really nostalgic and almost a homage in most part to an era that has so obviously influenced him as a writer and musician.

It’s full of rambunctious melodic hard rock, the driven energetic guitar riffs are thrown at us at every opportunity. Again, frequent guest musician Vince O’Regan helps out with some lead guitar riffage and solos. The guitar’s give the album a lot of energy and really give’s a lot of the songs a massive impact!

Vincent has notched up the number of hooks, they are everywhere! Some subtle but most are in your face giving this album instant gratification! It makes these songs so infectious and catchy it’s impossible to not just love the bones of this album.

If you like Vincent’s voice once again he delivers flawlessly, but I did notice he added a bit of grit to his delivery, noticeable on album opener ‘Keep It All Together’ which adds some rock snarl attitude to the impact of a couple of the songs.

Songs you should make a beeline for include ‘This Is Your Life’ a catchy keyboard heavy Eighties rocker with an indelible chorus and ‘Bad Dream’ with its killer chorus and delicious vocal harmonies making it an instant hit with me! But on the whole it’s a thoroughly enjoyable collection of tunes!

Hard Core is Eighties inspired punchy hard rock that demands for you to play it LOUD! Yet again I have to tip my hat to the prolific song writing of Phil Vincent who has delivered the goods once more. If you’re already a supporter of Vincent and D’Ercole, you’re going to relish this one but I also feel this has a wide appeal within the Melodic Rock fan base. There is a slight nostalgic tinge to these songs and I feel that and the strong commercial flow of the album will win D’Ercole even more fans! A top notch melodic hard rock album, get it, enjoy it, smile and Crank it Up!

8/10

Essential Track – ‘This Is Your Life’

Review by Woody