Yes, Pink Cream 69 is one of those bands that has strayed a little away from the original formula to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, that has not worked for them over their past few releases. They have put out some solid tunes, but not a solid CD from start to finish.
Over their career, the band have been fairly regular, in regards to releasing new music, but it has taken 6 years, to get their 11th studio album, Ceremonial. Over the past 10 years or so, it seems like the band have gotten a little off-track, due to all of the side projects, that the guys were in, but Ceremonial, seems to have brought them back to their roots. The last few releases were fairly lackluster and had the band ditching some of the their melodic sensibility for a heavier sound, but for me, it didn't quite work. Ceremonial brings the band back to true form, and could just prove to be their strongest release, since Sonic Dynamite in 2000.
Ceremonial starts in fine fashion with the melodic hard rocker, Land of Confusion. It is a nice opener, but might have been better suited, later in the running order. It is a killer tune, that is slower and bit more epic, than most opening tracks. I like these kinds of tunes closer to the middle or towards the end of a disk. The next track Wasted Years, takes the listener back about 20 years reminding us of when hair was big and spandex were in. It is an up-tempo melodic hard rocker, with a very catchy chorus. The cool thing about this disk, it that it has lots of nice variety. A really nice mix of rockers with a few ballads. Out of the ballads, my favorite is The Tide, which is so strong that it should be a hit. The production is heavy and crisp (Props Dennis Ward), which keeps this material from sounding dated. Great solid hard rock, with a little AOR mixed in. If you were ever a fan of this band, then this is a disk you must check out.
Bottom Line: PC69 sounding stronger than they have in years. Solid melodic hard rock from one of the greats.
Standout Tracks: The Tide, Land of Confusion, King For One Day and Passage of Time
-Ragman thinking that a little time away, did the lads some good.