Stephen
"They should have picked a better name for the band!", that's what crossed my mind when I first heard this band. Hailing from Chicago, Dear Diary claimed to have a similar sound to the likes of Harem Scarem, House of Lords, and Hardline, while I don't generally have any objection to that, I found that Dear Diary is slightly inferior in terms of musicianship and songwriting skill.
The first three tracks are absolute killers. "I Wanna Know" possessed an uplifting rhythm in a fast-paced tempo, Schafer/Panos delivered an outstanding solos, a nice start. "Momma Said" nods more to the commercial side, brewed with a catchy and hot chorus. "Slow Down" applied the same formula and generated an effective outcome. But after that, it all went downhill. "Tangueray Tina" has the groove as found in early Lynch Mob, but turned out to be a decent track in the end. "One Step Closer" started well but the lazy and sleepy singing ruined the mood of the song.
"Dream In Colors" and "Plain To See" are filler ballads while "She Danced For Me" is probably the worst of the bunch. "Red Rose Burn" and "Shiny Like Bubble Glass" are still acceptable, but this album is obviously hanging tight only on the first three tracks.
If you like melodic hard rock/later-day glam, Dear Diary won't disappoint. Most of the songs were written back in the days so the composition is very 80s with no modern influence at all. The production is a bit sloppy but far from horrible sounding. As a club-hopping and local bar band, Dear Diary's quality deserved a thumb up. Though this album will be much better if there are several more killer tracks, Dear Diary's debut still stand out better than many other average glam bands that lumped the scene in the late 80s.