SINGLE REVIEW: GRAND DESIGN - FACE IT
Swedish Hair Metal enthusiasts release their new single ‘Face It’ ahead of their upcoming fourth album ‘Viva La Paradise’.
Ever since its inception, the world of Rock and Heavy Metal has seen countless sub-genres emerge and dissipate throughout the years. Certain trends emerge again from time to time whereas others seem to never leave; forever haunting the airwaves in desperate hope of revival. Perhaps the most mind-boggling of all is the persistence of 80’s era Glam Rock/Hair Metal. Larger than life guitar solos, soaring choruses and hairdos with more volume than a Motorhead concert; it is easy to see the appeal, especially considering Hollywoods current nostalgia obsession for all things from the 1980’s. Yet, with the exception of notable bands such as The Darkness and Steel Panther, one struggles to find many bands that have succeeded in bringing anything new or interesting to the table since Grunge and Nu-Metal first forced the genre off the radio in the first place. Enter Sweden’s ‘Grand Design’, the brainchild of Def Leppard disciple Pelle Saether. Formed in 2006, Grand Design have released three full length albums so far and new single ‘Face It’ introduces us to upcoming album number four.
Within the first five seconds of Face It you will be able to tell if this is for you or not. Grand Design proudly put their influences on display as the track bursts into life with Van Halen style synth guitars and an over the top guitar lick, Face It is pure painting by numbers glam. The rhythm guitar chugs along with palm muted power chords, the vocals alternate between the highs and lows and the backing vocals on the chorus sound like a falsetto choir in space. Both musically and lyrically, this song is about as cliche as it comes; yet it has a certain charm to it. Although bringing nothing new to the table, the chorus sticks in your head and the whole song makes you feel as though you are in a training montage for every film that Hollywood has ever made. The rhythm guitars could take a few lessons from Def Leppards book and add some riffs and extra licks for varieties sake and the whole song could benefit from being a tad faster, but all in all the band do a decent job of paying tribute to the artists that they clearly adore. They may bring nothing new to the table, but this is a hell of a lot better than many of their contemporaries, we’re looking at you ‘Reckless Love’!
