American Tears
“Free Angel Express”
Rock
Released: 23rd October 2020
Via Deko Music
The first thing you’ll feel when listening to American Tears is how seventies those melodies sound. Well, it’s more than a feeling: the band WAS founded in the early seventies, by songwriter and keyboard player Mark Mangold. I’m not sure if they split up and then reformed or if it was just a very long hiatus; all I know is that after releasing “Powerhouse” in 1977, “Hard Core” would see the light of day 41 (!!!) years later. It seems that Mangold wasn’t happy with the lack of “popular response” and I’m sorry to say that this “Free Angel Express” won’t change that.
The concept is interesting, a rock band based on keyboards, capturing such retro vibe; it’s the outcome that fails to keep up with the expectations. The fact that the album lasts almost one hour and a half doesn’t help, most songs raving for more than five minutes and eventually becoming tedious. A poor attempt to sound progressive? The erratic beats of “Not For Nothing” could indicate so, but such dissonance is more annoying than ingenious. The same with “Blue Rondo”, one of the few “short” tracks (4:02), but being instrumental, the ever-shifting patterns make it feel endless, and not in a positive way. American Tears is the kind of band that really should try the “less is more” adage.
I believe there will be some people happy to sing along the “oh ooooh” parts of “Sledgehammered” or gently rock their heads with their eyes closed to the ballad “Woke”, but it will hardly be a large number of them.
5/10
Renata “Pieni” Lino
Valkyrian Music 