Review by JD on March 23, 2014.

Today’s radio friendly hard/modern rock is not what I grew up on. More flash with huge doses of commercialism, it makes all of it up rather than the rock and roll fire that it had back when. I am not a fan of most of it, considering it a pale comparison to the power of it all but then five guys from Paris France of all places appeared. Describing themselves as heavy stunt rock… Hell Of A Ride.

Crossing influences like Stone Sour, Black Stone Cherry and the heavier sides of Papa Roach (some parts of Australian rockers Rose Tattoo comes to mind as well) with the added pure metallic power of some traditional metal in the early NWOBHM format… these fiery French rockers found way to hard rock glory, and to stand up for their brand of simple yet explosive rock and roll.

Hell Of A Ride have a good punch to them, as well as giving you almost a half album that is nearly an odd concept album. I love songs like the testosterone driven "Fast As Lightning" and the beer soaked "Tears And Scars" - bringing the days of driving around in your car with rocking music blaring back. They have included some acoustic versions on to the backside of the album, but they seem out of place and perhaps should have been omitted. If you ignore these useless tracks, the album is a party album to the extreme.

Excluding the acoustic renditions of their songs, Hell Of A Ride has given us a hell of an album for us to enjoy. I hope they release another amazing LP but kindly leaving their acoustic guitars for wooing their wives/girlfriends away from the stage. They can be the one saving grace for all radio rock around the globe – let’s hope they see this, and take strides to overthrow the glut of bad rock. They will be victorious!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 8 (could have been a 10 - lose the acoustic renditions)
Production: 8.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.8 out of 10