ROCK SUGAR “Reimaginator” CD REVIEW

 

Rock Sugar is a band having been marooned on a desert island for twenty years with only their instruments and the cd collection of a 13 year old girl from 1989 to keep them company during their long struggle to survive. Needless to say, once the rescue was executed they were itching to tell the world exactly what they had been up to for the past twenty years.

Reimaginator is that album. Now that’s the story, do you believe it? No, who would, but anything Jess Harnell, Alex Track and Chuck Duran (Loud & Clear) are involved in always has a story involved.

 

Rock Sugar is a project that has been in the works for over two years. It is the amalgam of heavy rock and pop: it should not work, but it does. It is witty, clever and above all extremely well executed, offering the listener twists and turns that they do not expect, doing what no one thought was possible. Taking songs by Queen, Metallica, Madonna, Journey, Warrant ,Bryan Adams, Ozzy, Rick Springfield, Guns n Roses, The Eurythmics, Bon Jovi , Judas Priest and 10cc  to name a few, then mixing, matching and re arranging same into cohesive songs is a challenge that one should not take unless you are either decidedly insane or so confident that it is so right that the entire world should hear it.

 

What Rock Sugar has come up with is far, far in excess of anything that has been done before. Rock Sugar deliver the good clean fun version of a bunch of classic tunes delivered in a way that no one thought possible. Grab a listen to “You Shook Me Like A Prayer”, “Heaven and Heaven”,  “Voices In The Jungle” or the enormous ‘Round And Separated”.  It shouldn’t work, but it does. They should be vilified, but it’s impossible to.

 

All thirteen tracks grab you and take you back to the eighties heyday and you will find yourself singing along effortlessly to Madonna (!), Paula Abdul, Eurythmics and Supertramp with equal fervor to the more familiar tracks by Ratt, Journey, Warrant and Bryan Adams. It’s a marriage made in hell that completely defies logic and makes Reimaginator a MUST HAVE for every rock fan, Not just the hardcore hair band fans, but anyone who enjoys a party.  This is a nonstop party cd begging to be played over and over. It deserves it, it’s fun, enjoyable and most of all the musicianship to pull this off is something spectacular indeed.

 

Rock Sugar just might be the world’s best kept secret for the last twenty years, but as soon as you hear this album that will change in an instant. I defy you not to enjoy it. Huge production, huge vocals, searing guitars and slamming drums make this an absolutely indispensable piece of Pop/Rock. It is with great pleasure that I present you with Rock Sugar, why?

Because Pop Rocks!!!

 

Kieran Dargan

Promoter Firefest Festival UK