Stephen
'Crystal Eye' continues VENGEANCE's career and marks their tenth album to date. What you'll get here is pretty basic mix of classic hard rock and 80s metal, without any trace of modern influence at all. The setlist was built in a very balance way, listeners were given a comprehensive style, from the fast-paced metallic piece, to midtempo hard rock, and also slow ballads. A smart decision from the band to avoid a quick boredom after couple of spins, however if only some songs are better or at least share the same strength as 'Me and You', 'Shock Me Now', or 'Whole Lotta Metal', I would have given this album a higher rating.
I don't think there's a filler here, but maybe the title track is kinda blunt but not really in a very bad way. It's slow and dragged too long, probably 2 minutes shorter could have been a better idea. Several songs that can be considered a lower part of this album are 'Five Knuckle Shuffle', 'Barbeque', and the ballad, 'Missing'. But 'Desperate Women' is simply brilliant that it has the potential to become their single, after 'Whole Lotta Metal' of course, which is the best song here. The other ballad, 'Promise Me', is also a great candidate to be their radio hit.
All in all, not a perfect album but quite good and enjoyable. Perhaps not many heavy metal tunes here and they played more in the hard rock territory, but VENGEANCE always ended up in the middle so you know what to expect from the start. 75%