Time Signature Danger in the dark...

Genre: melodic hard rock

Melodic hard rock and AOR were huge in the 1980s, but as the 1990s arrived with its stripped down grunge and alternative rock, melodic hard rock and AOR completely disappeared from the limelight. However, the last couple of years have seen somewhat of a revival, as more and more melodic hard rock and AOR-oriented releases have started to see the light of day, and, as a bonus, most of these are quite good.

Thus, Prayer's "Danger in the Dark" features all the elements of good 80s AOR, including the catchy melodies and the sensible use of keyboards as well as blazing guitar solos and a pumping bass. All of the tracks on this album are incredibly melodic, with some being on the border between hard rock and pop rock, while others are heavier and have more of a punch to them. Highlights for me on this album are the upbeat 'KP' with its hard rocking but uplifting riffage and use of twin guitar leads, 'Never Let Your Dreams Die' which is similar in style but also has a slight Bon Jovi feel to it (from before Bon Jovi started sucking, that is), the Thin Lizzy-inspired 'Heart Wants to Rock' and 'End of the World', and 'Get What I Came For' is a heavy but melodic (and compelling) power ballad which features some cool riffs.

If one were to describe the music on this album through comparison, I think that the bast description is that of a mix of the early Bon Jovi pop metal sound combined with Thin Lizzy's branch of twin guitar-based hard rock, all wrapped in an 80s AOR approach. While there can be no doubt that the musicianship is top notch, I must admit that Tapani Tikkanen's raspy voice is not my cup of tea, although I do like his Phil Lynott-inspired vocal melodies.

In any case, Prayer's "Danger in the Dark" is a fine piece of work, rich in all those things that make good 80s style melodic hard rock, and fans of that genre would definitely not lose anything by checking it out.