Stephen The first album in ten years, 'On The Line' is highly anticipated by their cult followers and it's also a surprising move because VAIN decided to went back to their debut style. This is a similar approach with their latest album, 'Enough Rope', but the difference is 'Enough Rope' is clearly identical with 'No Respect' while 'On The Line' is a bit varied, probably a slight cross with 'Fade' and with some other elements too.

Every single song is just enjoyable, but as far as I recall, nothing really stood out like in 'No Respect' or 'Enough Rope'. The best tracks here are 'Drag Me', which strangely also reminds me of GOO GOO DOLLS; 'On The Line' is catchy and dark; the atmospheric ballad, 'Turn To Stand'; and two other uptempo songs, 'Lie For Love' and 'Keep Shining On'.

Two weaker songs are 'Last Sin' and 'Cover Me', both are slower tunes but I won't call em filler though. 'So Free Now' is melodic and 'Slave' has some nice grooves. All in all, this is a very good release by a very good and underrated band. The production is also great. One of those albums you desperately need to buy especially if you're a fan of VAIN.

Stephen Vain has always been considered a second-rate glam act but in reality, they have more talents than what really appears on the outside. Davy hasn't left the building since their late-coming, 'No Respect', in 1989, that's hailed by many as one of the most prolific underrated record of the 80s. Vain has also split opinions, mainly because some people just can't stand Davy's nasal and whiny singing style, but the dark vibe and his enigmatic charm on 'No Respect' planted a good nostalgic memory in my mind of how great that album is.

'Enough Rope' tried to bring back that feeling and in my opinion, it's a superb come back and successfully took you back to their prime era. Not only Davy's vocal is still as strong as ever, the whole album is definitely identical to 'No Respect'. The difference is 'Enough Rope' lean more on the hard rock/heavy metal side while the debut sounds sleazier, but the songs are solid on both albums.

'Greener' is an awesome start, and the chorus is totally addictive. 'Triple X' is a heavy metal monster with splendid riffs display. The perfect track here along with the title track and 'Vain'. Rumor has it that around 4-5 songs were actually taken from old demos while I suspect maybe at least 5-6 songs, and that's why the vibe is so similar. Reason why it didn't make to 'No Respect' is perhaps those songs are less-sleazier and that explains. 'Cindy's intro riff reminds me to Maiden's 'Wasted Years'. A good song anyway!

'Treasure Girl' is an awesome acoustical ballad, 'Distance of Love' has that creepy feeling that Vain has on the debut. 'Worship You' is similar to 'Beat The Bullet', definitely a perfect closer. The production is great especially when considered it's an indie album. It's hard to pick which one's better, but many will choose 'No Respect' only because they've played it more than 1000 times. In the end, I might prefer 'Enough Rope' a bit better. A superior release and eventually climbed to my top 5 of 2011!

Time Signature Triple X

Genre: glam metal / hard rock

Vain is a glam metal band who entered the scene a little late in the game and never really rose to the fame they deserved, as they were washed away from the spotlight as the grunge wave happened in the 1990s, but returned to the limelight in the mid noughties.

They may have been a sleazy looking glam band at some point, but their music on this album does not feature many of the elements that generated animosity on a lot of metalheads and other rock music lovers. For instance, there really are no pop elements as such on the album, and only very little sleaze 'n' cheese. Actually, I would consider this an all out hard rock album, as the music definitely has a harder edge than a lot of glam metal bands had in the golden age of glam.

Full of strong riffs and catchy vocal lines, there is a certain rawness to the album which captures true rock 'n' roll spirit. The production itself is not polished, and I like the squeaky and kind of raw vocals of main man Davy Vain's – the singing really suits the music and has a sort of unique and almost cheeky quality to it. Guitar fans can also look forward to some nice twin guitar leads every now and then and some cool and classic lead guitar licks.

Fans of hard edged glam metal and hard rock should definitely check out this this album; it's hard rocking, it's riff-strong, it's perfect for rocking out on a cold winter's day.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

Stephen Vain jumped in to the scene in the late 80s and they had the chance to promote couple of their singles from the debut, "No Respect" on MTV before lost in the shuffle when the grunge wave came rolling in. The difference between Vain and most of the bands from the later day is they're bringing back the heavier edge of glam from the mid-80s such as Dokken and Motley Crue and no hint of commercial pop metal that's commonly found in Poison, Bon Jovi, or Firehouse.

Davy Vain's squeaking vocal, to be honest, isn't my favorite, but he nailed most of the songs pretty well and only missed a few pitch controls in songs like "Laws Against Love" and "Down For The Third Time". The whole songs were written by himself and the first three tracks in my opinion are their best moment. "Secrets" is a superb track but can't match the next two, "Beat The Bullet" and "Who's Watching You". Both Danny West and James Scott occasionally switched lead guitar position and delivered a thrilling performance. The mandatory ballads are "One Thousand Degrees" which is good but "Without You" is much better. "Aces" has a big punchy gang shout chorus, the title track is also lovable, and "Ready" is loud and catchy with Tom Rickard's pounding drumming being the song's highlight.

The production is very good and most of the songs are strong and enjoyable with “Smoke And Shadows” is probably the worst track here. It's always fun to see the heavy metal brought back again in the later era where most of the mediocre bands are recycling the three chord songs and released average albums. "No Respect" definitely deserved a huge respect, worth a solid four-stars, and recommended for fans of glam and even heavy metal.