Stephen
"Time Will Tell" is the final offering of the Seattle-based heavy metal band and featured a new guitarist, Kendall Bechtel, in replacement of the original axeman, James Byrd, due to disagreement of royalty payment arrangement when they were signed to Epic Records. Departed from their earlier effort, "Time Will Tell" continued the trend with a thicker commercial breeze to reach a wider audience and cited as one of the late 80s overlooked melodic metal gem with a blend of Dokken, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche in their musical mix.
From the majestic fist-pumping opener, "Cathedral", Fifth Angel has stimulated the mood and hunger for a stunning metal odyssey onward. "Midnight Love", a spellbinding commercial rock with some spectacular solos is a strong pulse of the album while "Seven Hours" possessed the same quality, got a notable Iron Maiden influence, especially from "Somewhere In Time" era, with an elegant sing-along chorus. Both clearly are my favorites. "Broken Dreams" is a good ballad with a bit of Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool" formula, nothing particularly new but at least better than "So Long", a mediocre effort which can be a Dokken leftover.
The band's metallic rendition of UFO classic, "Lights Out", is pretty awesome but I was blown away when "We Rule" cranked out of my speakers. The typical Judas Priest firm shouts with double-pedal attack and a great guitar duels made this one a standout number. Fifth Angel ended the magical journey with "Feel The Heat", a radio-friendly with poppy hooks, could be a sequel to "Midnight Love", a bit cheesy in someway but still a valuable goody.
"Time Will Tell" is a forgotten jewel of the 80s, truly deserved a better appreciation, and what was once an expensive rare item, now can be found quite easy with the Sony Collectable remastered edition. A phenomenal release!