A year after the second album, the exact same line-up returned for the third Brazen Abbot release, with only a slight change in the number of songs for each singer as this time we had Joe Lynn Turner with four, Thomas Vikström with three and Göran Edman with four. There was a much better use of the different vocalists on this album, with stronger material being shared throughout and Vikström coming through much more powerfully indeed. It is the quicker numbers where everyone shines, while slower ones such as “Two of a Kind” could have been cut without anyone missing them whatsoever.

When the band are playing at pace, Kotzev riffing hard and the Hammond coming in over the top while the singers are allowed to put everything into their performance, this becomes an album to be reckoned with. I didn’t hear either of these albums when they were initially released, although I had heard of them due to the contributions from JLT plus I also reviewed Kotzev’s later ‘Nostradamus’ project. It is not a perfect release, but there are plenty of highlights here with all the singers doing a great job, and when everything is taking place with plenty of energy I am again transported back to the early Eighties when Rainbow had moved away from the commerciality of ‘Down To Earth’ and were starting to find their rock roots with a quite different singer. Of the two reissues this is the one I would turn to first.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://www.frontiers.it/