Stephen
I spin the disc with a relatively low expectation but Brunorock's "War Maniacs" did have something valuable behind its uninteresting front sleeve and goofy name. The solo outfit of Italian singer/guitarist comprised of elements from traditional heavy metal, 80s thick rhythm melodic hard rock style, and a tender touch of AOR. His voice isn't really groundbreaking, the musicianship is good at best, nothing's particularly extraordinary but I must admit the songwriting is pretty strong.
"Breakthrough" is an uptempo melodic rock with a beautiful keyboard drips on the background which was performed nicely by Alessandro Del Vecchio. "Liar" is a wonderful Bon Jovi-fueled track, "Last Ride" is a superb midtempo tune empowered with an astonishing interlude section. AC/DC's cover of "Touch Too Much" is a good rendition and sounded fresh while "Temptations" is a splendid uptempo hard rock.
Several other tracks aren't as great as the other and probably only the title track is the ironic filler of the album. The production is warm and nice. "War Maniacs" even though still have one or two weaknesses, it surpassed my initial expectation. A quite good album to have if you like 80s melodic hard rock.
