Stephen
'Graduation Day' is the third album of a weirdly-titled band, STURM UND DRANG, which was inspired by a German literature and music movement back in the 18th century. This Finnish hard rock is heavily formulated by the American 80s rock but it sure has the significant Finnish sound. There are lots of great moments in this disc, and I bet some of them has instant impact upon your first spin, such as 'Dark Little Angel of Mine', steals my attention right away, and also 'Molly The Murderer', what a great track that one is.
'Hammer To Fall' is a hard hittin' heavy blastin' track and the chorus is just massive. 'Goddamn Liar' is a superb ballad and deserved some spots on every local rock radios. However, after a thorough several spins, I'm beginning to see that the quality somewhat dip slightly near the end of second half. 'I Hurt Myself' and 'Party Like A Rockstar' are notable average tracks, and 'Light Years Apart' is an okay slow tune but can't beat 'Goddamn Liar' for sure.
Lookin' back to the positive points, the first track is worth a serious spin. 'Your Love Is For Sale' was consisted of punchy verse and sing-along chorus, and don't forget to check on the 4th track, 'Lucky' and also the 7th track, 'Fatherland', which both are very well crafted songs. If you like melodic hard rock, a bit flavor of heavy metal, and of course spiced up with Finnish hooks, 'Graduation Day' is a nice pick and worthy of 4-stars from me.