Who the hell Racer X are? Well, take a look at the line up. Yeah, it's the band of the guitar god Paul Gilbert and of the legendary Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis.
First of all I have to admit that Paul Gilbert is one hell of a guitar player. Pure God! His guitar work kicks some serious ass. I can't understand why many new Heavy Metal fans ignore him. That's because he never played in a well - known (commercially speaking) band I guess. I have to admit that I've heard only a couple of albums with him on the line up and I think that he is really underrated. Anyway here we have the new album of Racer X. Enough with the Gilbert Praise!
Heavy Metal is what you get from this band. Heavy Metal with many Rock 'N' Roll influences. I can say it's Heavy Metal in the vein of Judas Priest in any way. Old Rock 'N' Roll Judas Priest or Heavy Fuckin' Metal Judas Priest of Painkiller. The vocalist reminds me a lot of Rob Halford especially when he screams but he is not Rob. His straight vocals are just fine but nothing special. However they fit just fine with the music. Paul Gilbert blasts some amazing riffs and some godlike solos. The first song which is called Superheroes has some really great solos. Scott Travis now... Well, Scott Travis is Scott Travis. That's enough I guess. He fuckin' rules! I don't know about John Alderete ( the bass player) but he plays pretty tight with Scott and they make a great rhythm session together. So, everything is fine till now.. Is it really? I mean is the album so fuckin' good? Unfortunately it's not so good. It has a big drawback. It has some HYMNS some REALLY great tracks like Superheroes which is an amazing song but some other songs are a mediocre. If all the songs were at the same high level with Superheroes this album would be a masterpiece. Unfortunately (again) they are not. Some of them seem to me that they didn't get the proper attention from the band. On some songs the only things which save the whole situation are the amazing solos/riffs of Paul.
My favorite songs on the album are: Superheroes and the two instrumental tracks King Of The Monsters and Viking Kong. Paul is really enjoyable on these tracks. This album is not bad but it could be much better. I don't know how long they spend on the composing process and if they didn't have the appropriate time to make the album. Maybe that's the problem I don't know. I only know that this record could be a masterpiece. This album is good for those who like Heavy Metal in the vein of Judas Priest and for the fans of Paul. I know that he has many fans and all those people who love him will be extremely satisfied by Superheroes. I like it!
PS. Godzilla is a cover on the song of the legendary Blue Oyster Cult. It's nice and pretty close to the original. I also have to add that definitely Blue Oyster Cult is one of Racer's X influences.