Stephen "Branded" is the second album of The Noise Addiction (TNA) and introduced a modern flirtation approach but still rooted deeply to the classic hard rock foundation. Their first record, "Finger On The Trigger" merely encompassed their old stuffs from the late 80s while this one offered a fresh bites of newly composed songs. Imagine the first two albums of Van Halen blended with Skid Row and tweaked with a small amount of alternative sounding and that's what "Branded" is all about.

From the opening "Lies, Guns, and Violence", TNA gave a punchy verse and strong chorus, declaring a promising start to the next tracks. If you like a modern melodic hard rock style like this, "The Sound" and "Nine Lives of Innocence" are another good picks here. Mike McManamon's voice is like a blend of Dio and Ed Roland, or Scott Stapp perhaps, and that's a very unique combination in my opinion. The prominent axeman, Sean Tarr, is behind the breathtaking guitar licks and kicks, and I'm not surprised if one of his biggest influencer is Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch.

My most favorite tracks here are "Walk Before You Crawl" which is like a lost Van Halen track, "Rain", a radio-friendly commercial tune, "Feel It", a bold hard rock with conquering chorus, "Eva's Song", a captivating instrumental rock that started great and build upwards and "Do You Remember" which is probably the best of all. "Branded" is a good effort by the New York outfit, the sound production is satisfying and many songs are likable. However, if you're looking for a true old-fashion glam style, you have to look at another store, otherwise, TNA is worth checking out.