FAIR WARNING – Brother’s Keeper

Finally, after a five-year long break, the German Melodic Rock sensations Fair Warning are back, stronger than ever. At this point, Fair Warning is a much heavier band than experienced in previous albums such as Rainmaker, Four, Go, and their self-titled debut album, but the Melodic style still remains. This album was recorded between August 2005 and March 2006, and it really turned out to be great — one of the finest Melodic Rock releases so far this year, actually!

The opening track “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” is the hit single from the album and sounds really amazing. It is definitely a sing-along song with heavy guitar riffs and a very melodic sound. The keyboards bring back the 80s feeling and gives the tune a very fine musical specter. It’s very melodic, but also very heavy. The sound on this song is a bit similar to the Norwegian Melodic Heavy Rock band Wig Wam, but they take another direction during the rest of the album.

“Generation Jedi” is the best song on this record. The intro is just wonderful and when Helge Engelke enters with his intense guitar riff, it goes into a heavy phase. The massive sound in the bass and drum sections make a great foundation for the song, and Tommy Heart’s high-pitched vocals are incredible. Guitarist Helge Engelke does an incredible job on this track. His playing sounds like it’s inspired by Neoclassical music. The solo features arpeggios and several other styles, and really shows his abilities on the guitar.

Vocalist Tommy Heart takes his singing to another dimension on this album. He really pushed his vocal abilities to higher grounds this time and sounds better than ever before! Not to forget the two other band members who do a very good job keeping the music going with a perfect groove and compression.

The only ballad that is a little interesting is one of the first songs, “All of My Love.” The intro is not very impressive, but when the chorus kicks in, it gets really good. This is one of those songs that takes you back to the 80s. It’s not unlike one of their earlier power ballads, “Long Gone,” which is also a wonderful tune. Engelke plays a beautiful guitar solo on this one … he has an amazing guitar sound that’s very bright and clear.

Next is “Rainbow Eyes.” The keyboard opening is a little mysterious, and heightens the expectations for the song. When the guitar riff comes in with the rest of the band, you’re captured in the musical magic. It’s a catchy song with a simple chorus and lyrics, and once again Engelke does a tremendous guitar job. This man is an underestimated guitar player, and you may wonder why that is the case when you hear his tremendous playing.

The way this album ends is a tragedy. “All I Wanna Do” is a ballad that is nothing more than awful. This is something everyone has heard a thousand times before, which also applies to some of the other ballads on this record. This is no way to end a solid album like Brother’s Keeper.

Their music sounds refined, and although it’s good, there’s actually nothing special about it. Sometimes it sounds emaciated and seems like it’s made in a hurry, especially some of the ballads. That’s a little weird, because after all, Fair Warning used to be a great ballad-making band, creating beautiful songs like “Long Gone” along with many more.

Many people would call Fair Warning unoriginal because they’ve seen so many bands like this through the years, especially in the 80s. But, after all, it is highly original to play this kind of music now when Hip-Hop and R&B rule the charts all over the world. Melodic Rock is a music style that had almost disappeared during the last decade. It was kept alive, though, by bands like Fair Warning. Now it’s on its way back and the release of this album will probably bring the band a lot of success. The band should be really proud too of creating such a solid release!

Lineup

Tommy Heart – Vocals
Helge Engelke – Guitars
Ulf Ritgen – Bass Guitar
CC Behrens – Drums