One of the biggest ironies of our beautiful Metal culture is that, even though at its heart it's a rebellion against the accepted norms in our world, it has a clear and distinct set of norms of its own that many feel obliged to follow in order to call themselves a "true" Metal fan. This image creeps its way into the music as well, so that the vast majority of the music we review has similar album artwork, and, to an extent, similar sound. STEVE FOGLIA's latest offering is like a voice in the wilderness, seeming to make a conscious effort to distance itself from this image.

Steve In Wonderland absolutely screams Classic Rock influence. It screams ZZ TOP, it screams DIO, and it even sounds a bit like TOM JONES ocassionally. The opening song in particular, "Fight For Justice", has many of DIO's characteristically epic vocals and vocal style, albeit not quite as impressively (but that's hardly to be expected). The following song "Few Days To The End" is perhaps my favourite on the album, mostly due to how beautifully old-school it is with its uplifting riffs and vocals.

There are songs like "Numbers" and "Wrong Hole" which don't quite work as well and tend to drag on perhaps a bit longer than they should, with drawn-out solos and overplayed notes. The band makes use of the ocassional light harmony, although it's hard to tell whether it's the same vocalist or even a female vocalist since they've been mixed into the background. Regardless, these sections in "Walking In Wonderland" and "We're American Band" are quite good and make a nice change from the ordinary vocals.

Contrastingly, the 10th song "Enemy's Collection" brings BLACK SABBATH to mind with its sinister vocals and deep, menacing guitars. This makes it stand out from the other songs, as by the end song "Eternal Last Day" we are back to the Classic Rock with what sounds like a violin backing.

"Steve In Wonderland" is a breath of fresh air in our genre, from the album cover to its relaxed vibe. It's not perfect, and I couldn't see myself listening to it from front to back more than once, but there are a select few songs that are worth more than a few listens in their own right and it's a release that's well worth checking out if you appreciate your old-school rock'n'roll.