Multinational band W.E.T. was formed in 2008, primarily as a side project for renowned musicians Erik Mårtensson, Jeff Scott Soto and Robert Säll. They released their self-titled debut album in 2009, and a follow-up appeared in 2013. The band also turned from a studio based to a live project in 2013, when the band held a concert in Stockholm just prior to the release of their second album. The recording of this first live performance by the band was released in 2014 as “Live One – In Stockholm” as a double CD and DVD set through Italian label Frontiers Music. This review covers the double CD part of the package.
When the key members of a band each are best known as permanent members of separate melodic hard rock bands, chances are that when they decide to hook up it will either be to explore the same type of music or to do something completely and radically different. In this case the former applies, as W.E.T. explore what I guess one can describe as a timeless variety of melodic hard these days, as the main ingredients of this type of music have stayed pretty much the same for the last 30 years or so.
Hooks and melodies are key features in all the songs here, the chorus sections are either singalong, anthem oriented or both, and all the songs are of the kind that easily could be aired on any classic rock radio station near you without anyone wondering why this particular song has been given airtime. Smooth, easygoing hard rock relying on compelling features in general, music to hum along to and material that begs for a permanent placement in the car stereo system.
Similarities to artists like Dokken, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi are easy to get by, and I guess hair metal or pop metal might also be descriptions not totally out of place, at least as long as you take any glam and sleaze oriented bands out of the equation, as W.E.T. have a more firm placement inside AOR and melodic hard rock. Not that the differences are all that great between any of the subgenres of rock and metal that have been tossed into this description, but at least for some dedicated fans the minute differences between them are regarded as important.
As a live band this core trio with live additions comes across as a fairly guitar dominated affair. If this is due to an unbalanced mix, live recording conditions or a choice by the band I do not know, but the keyboards have a strikingly subordinate role throughout, almost to the point of being inaudible. Which gives a lot of room for both gentler guitar details and more edgy riff-oriented sequences to soar and shine, the end result being compelling compositions that in this live setting comes across as creations with a defined edge and bite to them, probably a bit more so than on the respective studio recordings. So those who prefer their melodic hard rock to be without any rougher edges might not find this live recording to be quite to their taste due to this. Not that the band comes across as metal warriors here, as the songs are still very much in the radio friendly department, but there is a slightly rougher edge, a bit more depth and a bit more bite. On a subtle level rather than a dramatic one.
The band comes across as skilled and experienced with the audience interaction, and it appears that they had a good concert going as well. No really audible flaws in performance, the audience are clearly enjoying this event, and everything runs smoothly. That they decide to toss in some songs from the main bands of the key members goes down well to, and as many bands do they use their arguably best songs for the encore at the end.
Two bonus studio tracks have been included on this double CD, and both of them comes across as solid creations that fits quite nicely into the general scope of this production. If this package has a weakness I guess those bonus tracks highlight just that: That one may find this double album to be a bit too uniform, the material to be just a bit too similar throughout.
There’s really not too much else that needs to be said about this production. This is a high quality, double live album of melodic hard rock, with a firm orientation towards AOR and with some hair metal tendencies here and there that adds a bit more bite to the end result. A production that should appeal to just about anyone with an affection for this type of music. If you tend to like melodic hard rock, this is a band and an album that merits a check.
My rating: 79/100
