Music Banter - View Single Post - Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album Mini-Reviews

Trollheart · 03-16-2013, 06:19 AM

Honest hard rockers from Canada don't do much to fly the flag

Artiste: Coney Hatch
Nationality: Canadian
Album: Outta hand
Year: 1983
Label: Anthem
Genre: Hard rock
Tracks:
Don't say make me
Shake it
First time for everything
Some like it hot
To feel the feeling again
Too far gone
Love games
Fallen angel
Music of the night
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: By reputation only
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good old-fashioned hard rock: honest if a little dated
Best track(s): First time for everything, To feel the feeling again, Music of the night
Worst track(s): Shake it, Some like it hot, Love games
Comments: One of Canada's forgotten exports, Coney Hatch were one of those bands you heard a lot of in the eighties, yet they never really made it big, while people in generally the same arena as them, such as Bon Jovi and Foreigner, were having hits all over the place. Perhaps coming from Canada worked against them; there weren't too many hard rock acts coming out of there at that time that were making it. April Wine were another; great band but got little in the way of coverage. Actually, vocalist Carl Dixon would later go on to work with that band when Coney Hatch broke up.

They only had the three albums, their last coming out in 1985, but none of them seem to have made too much of an impression, despite their debut being touted by many as being the next big thing; just never happened for them. Maybe they just weren't different enough to stand out from the clutch of similar bands who were around at the time, some making it, some not. Everything on this album is solid, but in fairness it would be hard to point to anything completely memorable or anything that really stands out. They could rock with the best of them, as in the opener, Don't say make me or Fallen angel, while at the same time capable of dialing it right down for ballads and semi-ballads like First time for everything and To feel the feeling again. Most of the time though their music sounds just too lame and dated, music that does not stand the test of time.

I've been trying to place Dixon's voice, because it sounds very familiar to me, and I now know why. He's almost a dead ringer, voice-wise, for the late Andrew "Mac" MacDermott, erstwhile vocalist for Threshold. Still, as the album winds on towards its close I must admit there's not a lot here that impresses me or that I'll remember. Maybe there's a good reason why they only lasted three years and never made it... Good closer in Music of the night, maybe hinting at what they could do if they put their minds to it. Trouble is, most of the time they seem to just have taken the path of least resistance here, leading to an album that's about as generic as they come.
Overall impression: Pretty generic really. Not a lot to write home about.
Intention: Not really interested in checking out any more from them really.

03-16-2013, 06:19 AM	#144 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Honest hard rockers from Canada don't do much to fly the flag Artiste: Coney Hatch Nationality: Canadian Album: Outta hand Year: 1983 Label: Anthem Genre: Hard rock Tracks: Don't say make me Shake it First time for everything Some like it hot To feel the feeling again Too far gone Love games Fallen angel Music of the night Chronological position: Second album Familiarity: By reputation only Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Good old-fashioned hard rock: honest if a little dated Best track(s): First time for everything, To feel the feeling again, Music of the night Worst track(s): Shake it, Some like it hot, Love games Comments: One of Canada's forgotten exports, Coney Hatch were one of those bands you heard a lot of in the eighties, yet they never really made it big, while people in generally the same arena as them, such as Bon Jovi and Foreigner, were having hits all over the place. Perhaps coming from Canada worked against them; there weren't too many hard rock acts coming out of there at that time that were making it. April Wine were another; great band but got little in the way of coverage. Actually, vocalist Carl Dixon would later go on to work with that band when Coney Hatch broke up. They only had the three albums, their last coming out in 1985, but none of them seem to have made too much of an impression, despite their debut being touted by many as being the next big thing; just never happened for them. Maybe they just weren't different enough to stand out from the clutch of similar bands who were around at the time, some making it, some not. Everything on this album is solid, but in fairness it would be hard to point to anything completely memorable or anything that really stands out. They could rock with the best of them, as in the opener, Don't say make me or Fallen angel, while at the same time capable of dialing it right down for ballads and semi-ballads like First time for everything and To feel the feeling again. Most of the time though their music sounds just too lame and dated, music that does not stand the test of time. I've been trying to place Dixon's voice, because it sounds very familiar to me, and I now know why. He's almost a dead ringer, voice-wise, for the late Andrew "Mac" MacDermott, erstwhile vocalist for Threshold. Still, as the album winds on towards its close I must admit there's not a lot here that impresses me or that I'll remember. Maybe there's a good reason why they only lasted three years and never made it... Good closer in Music of the night, maybe hinting at what they could do if they put their minds to it. Trouble is, most of the time they seem to just have taken the path of least resistance here, leading to an album that's about as generic as they come. Overall impression: Pretty generic really. Not a lot to write home about. Intention: Not really interested in checking out any more from them really. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 01:30 PM.