CHINCHILLA – Take No Prisoners

This album had a very cool booklet and band pictures. It also seems like the band members have a jolly good time working with it too, at least if one judges from the pictures. Too bad this isn’t reflected in the music. This is namely so stereotypical German Hard Rock/Metal that it’s not even funny.

With a possible exception is “The Ripper,” “Rich Hounds,” “Death Is A Grand Leveller,” and the opener “The Almighty Power,” which are all quite okay (although nothing more), this so desperately fails to entertain. It’s not that it’s all directly bad, which it’s not … it’s professionally done, with a good production, and for the most part solid individual performances (although neither the vocals nor the guitar solos are very much to brag about). It’s just that it sounds so run-of-the-mill that it’s doomed to be forgotten in today’s market, with bunches of albums released each week.

This is the band’s fifth studio album, so these are experienced folks, and the album seems to be quite an ambitious project too. It looks like there’s some sort of political concept story going on, and the band has probably laid down quite a few working hours into this album. It’s just too bad it lacks all the spark and creative edge needed to step forth from the crowd. Still, the album may very well sell its share of copies in the German and Japanese markets – most albums do, I guess – but nothing more than that. Once again, though – the packaging is very cool … and you gotta dig those sunglasses!