When Tank recruited Doogie White and went on the war path with ‘war machine’ in 2010 few people were initially prepared to take it seriously. More fool them for “war machine” was a fantastic album which quickly silenced the barbed comments of any doubters and trod down hard, and with a hob nailed boot, upon any further derision in the ranks. Quite what the motivating factor was is a moot point – whether it was the addition of excellent vocalist Doogie, or the razor sharp music laid down by the Phoenix-like band – but what does matter is that “war machine” was an excellent record, more than capable of contending with the new bands on the block and this year’s follow up “war nation” is cut from similar, magical cloth.
Opening with the title track, you couldn’t hope for a better opening. The music is tight, heavy and Doogie sings with a power and authority that makes it feel like he’s been fronting the band since day one. It’s full-throttle, classic-tinged hard rock in the vein of Europe (whose recent return to form has been equally dazzling) and like the very best hard rock it puts the melodic vocals at the forefront and then backs it up with a solid wall of guitars guaranteed to bang even the most cynical of heads – hell, if you didn’t know who was playing you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a much younger band taking you on so epic a journey. Of great importance to the overall feel is the production and Phil Kinman deserves great credit for turning in a record that is powerful and well separated allowing each element to come through with perfect clarity. ‘The song of the dead’ with its mid-tempo groove comes off as a dead centre cross between vintage Maiden and Europe with Doogie’s powerful vocals set to a crunchy guitar riff destined to delight air guitarists everywhere and you can’t help but feel that songs like this are made for huge stages and even bigger audiences with the guitarists peeling out their fluid solos under spotlights of blistering intensity.
Having grabbed the attention, Tank are certainly not about to let you go and ‘hammer and nails’ kicks in with an up-tempo riff and pounding percussion that grinds over you like the tracks of the eponymous vehicle, whilst the lyrics are pure heavy metal fodder, brilliantly realised and destined to be sung by leather-clad audiences the globe over if there is any justice at all left in the world. This is brilliant, powerful hard rock, the type of which is so rarely made these days and hearing a band play with such passion and conviction is a genuine delight from start to finish. ‘Don’t dream in the dark’ is another song that recalls the vigour of vintage Maiden with its throbbing bass and Doogie’s fine vocal leading to a simple one-line chorus that is yet another track destined to be sung by huge crowds of Tank fans driven to the peaks of ecstasy by the band’s exemplary riffs and melodic sense. ‘Grace of God’ opens with Doogie belting out “There but for the grace of God go I…” before the band come charging in with all the ferocity and precision of the well-oiled unit they undoubtedly are for a track that is certainly a highlight of the album.
With a title like ‘dreamer’ (a title that has a poor heritage indeed in Ozzy Osbourne’s horrible songof the same title) you can only anticipate the track will be a ballad and so it transpires as the song opts for a warm, laid-back sound that is somewhat at odds by the monstrous tracks that surround it. It’s by no means a bad track, but it is a moment of unashamed sentimentality that breaks up the otherwise unstoppable flow of the album for a lighters aloft moment that picks up only for an excellent harmonised solo courtesy of long-time guitarists Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans. Back to business as usual and we get the mighty ‘justice for all’ with its brutal intro riff and powerful vocal performance and then ‘wings of heaven’ slam dunks you with its sublime solos rippling across the mid-section and galloping beat. ‘State of the union’ is another rampaging beast with a depressingly memorable melody and rock-solid chorus all super-charged by the exemplary guitar work that typifies this album and then the album closes with ‘hardroad’ – an instrumental that gives the band a chance to shine without Doogie’s remarkable larynx stealing all the thunder.
There is little to add by way of conclusion. “War nation” is the perfect successor to “War machine” with a bolder, larger sound typifying the band’s output. The confidence here is unassailable; the power of the band in full flow unstoppable; and in Doogie White Tank have recruited a diamond, the singer’s voice comparable to the mighty Dio himself, with authority and melody imbued in every syllable. If you like expertly played, passionately delivered hard rock with style and attitude by the skipful then Tank should be your band of choice. “War Nation” is an unmitigated success.
