Stephen
British classic rockers are back again after many silent years since their inception in the early 80s, and based on what they offered here, fans of 70s hard rock will like this a lot due to the songwriting style and production sound. Thin Lizzy and UFO might be few references on how 'A Sudden Impulse' sound but I can also hear a good amount of commercial melodies on several tracks to sweeten thing up.
Fronted by singer Reuben Archer, the man has the great whiskey-soaked blues-drenched vocal character and to see how he nailed "Send Me Down An Angel" in a midtempo pace with commercial chorus is a captivating experience. "Jessie", "Hard Rock Hell", and "This Road" are among the good tracks on the first half while "Having Fun" and "Make A Change" are completely passable fillers to me.
Onto the second half, "Homeward Bound" is a wonderful midtempo ballad and best if played in the radio as the melodies are very friendly to almost anyone. "Shame On You" is another brilliant track, "Humble Pie" is a slow song with a bluesy rock and roll feel, "Flaming Gold" has that country ballad feel, another splendid job done well there.
The production though feels very raw, the sounds are very nice and all the voices as well as the instruments are clearly audible. Most of the songs are enjoyable, some are better, some are weaker, but overall, a perfect companion for an hour drives on the breezy highway. Fans of older rock bands, NWoBHM in particular, will dig this the most. Nice new record from the veteran!