Collateral – “Self-Titled”
Label: Roulette Media Records
Rating: 8/10
Review: Dawn Osborne
If you are a classic rock fan Collateral are one of the more exciting young bands to hit the scene in the last year or so. They have the energy and fire cracking vibe of an early Skid Row. And as I love all things 80’s, especially bands like Bon Jovi, they have a fresh faced slightly countrified hard rock style that has been completely unaffected by the 90’s in any way. They also have a great image to match.
Opener and first single, ‘Lullaby’ is one of their more hard rock offerings, whereas ‘Midnight Queen’, also another single, shows off their more country music side. Certainly as Nashville continues to attract rock musicians like Tom Keifer and Kip Winger it would not surprise me to see this band have country music success as well as hard rock accolades. Like Ron Keel, I think they are capable of taking the best from both worlds. ‘Get Back To You’ is more of a country ballad that has a maturity to it. If you didn’t know better you would think it had been written for the band by a seasoned dedicated songwriter when, in fact, the band do all their own writing. I could see this track on country music TV, no problem. Ditto, ‘About a Boy’. This album probably shows off more the country side than the hard rock side, although live the band lean toward the heavier realm. I hope they pursue both rather than specialize in one or the other although the more rockin side exemplified by ‘Promiseland’, ‘Merry Go Round’ and ‘In it For Love’ are my favourites. I would love to see the band produced by someone like Michael Wagener to help capitalize on this side of their work.
If you have seen Collateral live you will know that as well as bringing the music they also have charisma in spades. It’s a magical combination which makes me think this band will go a long way. Lyrics in songs like ‘Can’t Stop Me Dreamin’ and ‘Mr Big Shot’ show that the band have the determination to keep trying no matter what, and I think they have what it takes to get there. If anything I think they still have plenty of potential to capture the special nature of their live performances in the studio. Watch this space!
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