Tainted Lady are a Danish-based band whose influences are as diverse as Deep Purple, Skid Row and The Beatles, and they’ve toured with both Purple and Pretty Maids. Their second album is now on release, Sounds Like Freedom // Feels Like War maintains the classic rock approach but does throw in some intriguing folkish rock to keep the clichés at bay.
Opener ‘Seven Billion Souls’ shows growth and maturity since their debut with a strong riff and vocals, a brilliant chugging chorus and a suitably fiery solo. The folk edges show in the next song, ‘Hey Mr. Music Man’ with a flower power age title and nice vocal harmonies it becomes a quiet and well crafted interlude. ‘Building A Machine’ is a title remarkably close to a Glenn Hughes album and it does have a GH or BCC feel that makes it a damn good heavy rock song that deserves airplay.
‘Down To The River’ is more harmony vocals over acoustic guitar before the gentle melody is played cleverly with electric power chords… the alternating quiet and heavy sections work well. ‘Song Of Reckoning Pt II’ is the longest track and is their ‘epic’ with its dramatic build up; it does have the right ingredients with a hefty riff and screams aplenty. The quiet mid-section pulls back the weight with acoustic and vocal harmonies before we go back to heavy for the conclusion… it may seem formulaic on first listen but it is actually a strongly structured and brilliantly performed song. ‘Fever Dream’ will bring Poison to mind and is slightly fluffy after the previous songs… still, it is certainly a song to bop unskinnily to! ‘Lonely Bird’ closes the album with another folkified song that has a lilt and melody that is infectious and you will find yourself appreciating the variation these excursions bring to the album as a whole.
Overall, this is a very good album that brings classic rock tropes up to date and injects a welcoming freshness. If I had to compare, then it would be Byron era Heep but with more weight… and that is a good thing: give it a listen.
