This is one of the easier reviews I've done in quite a while. I'm a huge fan of anything 80's hard rock and I listened to almost everything released during, what I consider to be, the greatest era in music history. After grunge-rock almost completely brought this sound to extinction, I thought for sure that I would be dead before the 80's "metal" genre made its comeback. Well, not so. There has been a recent worldwide resurgence of this classic sound, and while this explosion has created a feeding frenzy, most of the bands trying to capture that distinctive sound, fall short. But there are a few new bands that really hit the mark. That brings me to MIDNIGHT SIN's debut album, "Sex First"; a straight up, hard rock record that has a fantastic mixture of MOTLEY CRUE, GUNS N' ROSES, WARRANT, POISON, RATT, and BON JOVI style music.

Hailing from Italy, MIDNIGHT SIN consist of Albert Fish on vocals, LeStar on lead guitar, Maurice Flee on rhythm guitar, Acey Guns on bass, and
Dany Rake on drums. These guys have everything required to become a big-name act on the hard rock scene, playing an infectious, radio-friendly mixture of hard rock, glam, and AOR, and "Sex First" should certainly chart a few singles. Had this album been released in 1985, it more than likely would have been certified platinum and made MIDNIGHT SIN a headliner, for sure in the United States, and probably every other country in the free world.

The problem with most "hair bands" today is that they lack the substance and songwriting ability, as well as the swagger and originality, of the 80's bad-boy Rock Star. The mentality that you can tease your hair up, put on some lipstick, and sell records, won't work in the cruel, modern-day music industry. MIDNIGHT SIN has all of the above, and has put their name at the head of the class of new offerings in the hard rock "hair metal" genre.

I can usually tell after the first 30 seconds of the first track of an album, if I'm going to like the entire record or not. Ok, this one took me until track two, only because the opening track, "Snake Eyes", is a spoken intro that sounds like a circus ringmaster. But let me tell you, I was hooked from the opening guitar riff of  "Midnight Revolution", the album's second song. Sounding like a Hollywood headliner born unto the Sunset Strip in the mid-80's, I knew this was going to be a great album, right then and there. And the guys didn't let me down; the music only got better the deeper I got into the record, and offered no weak moments to speak of. With 10 songs full of RATT style guitar riffs and solos, DOKKEN style choruses, powerful SKID ROW (with Sebastian Bach) style lead vocals, and "the looks that kill" (MOTLEY CRUE reference), MIDNIGHT SIN gets my vote for one of the bands to carry the torch for the old-school style hard rock into the future.

If you're a fan of that classic, arena headlining Rock-Star sound, a sound that once dominated the music industry and made many a makeup-wearing teenagers a household name; this album is a must.<