WESTWORLD – Cyberdreams

Gosh people. Call your dentist. This CD will drop your jaw to the ground so hard that the man in white coat will be happy to fix your teeth and hand you the bill. Without relevant competition, Westworld has indeed released the AOR disc of the year 2002. Fuck Riot, fuck TNT from 1992 and on, a band that used to be my favorite back in the eighties, Le Tekro will have to bust his ass and get a grip on real life to come up with something as good as this. I might have said last time, when “Skin”, Westworld’s second studio release, came out, but this is for sure the best album Tony Harnell has sung on since TNT’s Intuition back in 1989. And I have never heard Mark Reale as tasteful as now (then again, I never was much of a Riot fan).

Anyway, the band has let Mark Wood go, hopefully the dude is still working with TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or Thrashing Savatage Orchestra), and a keyboarder named Josh Pincus has taken over. Yes, that has made an impact on the band, as Mark was more of a string section conductor, but I still say Westworld has a strong identity, even for being nothing but a brilliant band playing radio-friendly rock, they are quite unique in their style. It’s simply the blend of Tony Harnell’s always impressing vocals combined with a guitar player that dares to be himself, and a very intelligent way to create melodies, that make the Westworld sound. (History can teach you that when Tony works with awesome guitarists, the result is over the top – and I am NOT talking about Al Pitrelli though Morningwood was a great record).

On Cyberdreams, you just get soaked into the catchy melodies and the tasteful musical expression. You hear a great song, and you think; that must be the best song on the disc, but like I said, when you hear the next, it’s just as good, or God-like, or even better. I really can not pick any favorites, but if you force me; try “How Good It Feels”, you’ll find it on our jukebox, or “A Million Miles”, or “What If?”, or “When I Come Home”, or “Misery Loves Company”, or “Righteous One” – fuck that, get the album and try all! Then set up that appointment with your dentist…