Reviewed by David Cranson

Red Rain are only two years old, but sound like a band who have been gigging and playing together for years. This is their second album and is a good example of solid pop/rock. They consist of brothers Michael and Stephen Turner, David Francis - all from New Zealand, and new(ish) drummer David Pfanstiel, from the US of A. The album starts off very promisingly with "Red Rain", a good up-tempo rocker with the promise of more to come. "Red Rain" signifies the blood of the Lord raining down on a broken world to heal. The promise of more to come isn't fully attained, and with guitarist David Francis quoting Satch & Vai as influences I was expecting more in the lead guitar/solo stakes, but nothing really transpires. As some albums do, it tends to dip in the middle, with the title track being very worthy, but a bit boring. (It's over six minutes long, two of which could have done with being cut out.) Another slight problem is the similarity of rhythm guitar throughout, doing nothing much more than playing chords and strumming. I have to admit to forcing myself to get to the end, come about track seven. In saying all that, the album kinda reminds me of dc Talk in mid-tempo mode. This in itself is no bad thing, but dc Talk did tend to vary things more. The melodies and harmonies are excellent and the playing overall is proficient. Excellent lyrically, but they could do with expanding their horizons a bit, being a bit more adventurous . . . and maybe even throwing in a lead break now and again.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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