White Widdow - Serenade (2011)

Australia  2011

Tracklisting: 

Cry Wolf

Strangers In The Night

Do You Remember?

Reckless Night

How Far I Run

Serenade

Show Your Cards

Mistake 

Patiently

Love Won't Wait

Personnel

Jules Millis - Vocals

Enzo Almanzi - Guitars

Trent Wilson - Bass

Xavier Mills - Keyboards

Jim Naish- Drums

 Up until earlier this year I'd seen the name "White Widdow" floating about but hadn't bothered investigating further. Alright, so the fact they are a collection of young Australians - a nation not exactly known for AOR - was moderately interesting. 

 Then Classic Rock magazine stuck "Cry Wolf" on a freebie CD and  I was sufficiently impressed enough to go buy their second  album. 

 The one thing that did worry me was this: What if the one track I already knew was the only decent track on the CD? 

 No worries mate.  While "Cry Wolf" is still the standout track the rest of the album is rather good too.

  Describing how they sound is tricky. Musically these guys go in for an updated take on late 80s heavy AOR.  Basically, the stuff that fits into the gap between AOR and Hair Metal. 

The names I keep coming up with are "Tower City" and "Blue Tears" - which is another way of saying there is a definite Def Leppard + keyboards air to some songs. "Do You Remember" in particular could have been slotted onto "Hysteria" without too much tweaking.

 If you are allergic to keyboards then this is probably not an album you will like. Parpy chords are all over most songs giving them an extra dose of  pomp. Meanwhile in true AOR fashion the guitarist keeps it simple but effective, leaving plenty of space for the vocals and those much-missed 80s Big Choruses.
 I don't think there's a weak song on the album but if I were to pick my favourites - or rather, my favourite songs that aren't "Cry Wolf" - I'd opt for "Love Won't Wait" and "How Far I Run"
 I am impressed.
 If you want to know what they sound like, here's a sample.

All the best and see you next time.