SANTERS — Shot Down In Flames (review)

SANTERS — Shot Down In Flames album cover Album · 1981 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
voila_la_scorie
What if Rick Springfield decided that his brand of rock needed a harder edge to it? Harder rocking guitars and more solos but still keeping the pretty and nice boy voice? If you have already started thinking about Zoot’s cover of “Eleanor Rigby” from the early seventies (Rick Springfield was in that band – check out the video), then steer your thoughts instead to Toronto’s Santers, a hard rock band comprised of Rick and Mark Santers and Rick Lazaroff.

Their debut “Shot Down in Flames” with the title track dedicated to Bon Scott hit record stores in 1981 and packed a hard rock sound with Rick Santers’ more early 80’s mainstream rock vocal style. If they had added some synthesizer they could have been ahead of the game.

The music is quite simply electric guitar with power chords and distortion, bass and drums. Rick Santers puts a bit of bite in his vocal style at times but he never sounds snarly or street-toughened. There’s no denying that the music is meant to be hard rock with some great riffs and pretty cool hard rock solos. Some songs are closer to the party rock sound, like “You Turn Me On” and “Points of Resistance”. Other songs like they could be akin to earlier Saxon but with Rick Springfield on vocals. Check out “Paths of Heart” or “Caught in the Wind”.

Some attention should be given to Rick Lazaroff's bass playing. Having strong jazz influences, Lazaroff doesn't fully stretch out here but does pack in some rock solid bass playing that stands out enough to catch attention in several places.

Overall, the trademark sound of Santers’ debut, and indeed their next two albums, is hard rock guitar with vocals that likely appealed to young ladies of the time. I mean the girls that wanted the excitement of hard rock without the overt sexuality of Motley Crue. Some very good solos and strong songs. But not for those who can’t take nice boy hard rock.
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