I went out to the official Doro website before I typed a word of this review. I realized that the gorgeous blonde had a large following from her previous band, Warlock, and I know these words are going to offend Doro fans, but damnit, this CD sucks.
Let me re-phrase that. This one stinks like a two year old's diaper after corn and green jello meets you on the other side. Yes, that bad.
For those of you, like me, that skipped her career as the leader of Warlock, this is the first taste of this supposed legend. I realize she has a legion of fans, but I can't help but think even they will think this is bad.
First, the good, and there ain't a lot of it. Eric Singer plays drums on a couple of tracks and sounds as good as ever. Lemmy, from Motorhead, guests on a song he wrote called "Love Me Forever" and plays acoustic guitar. Again, that sounds as good as ever. Finally, the CD has a run time of only 54 minutes, not 74.
Now (sharpening the axe to pick this apart), the not so good. First of all, the material is weak. Doro's band are mere role players, performing mundane material. When they should rock, they play it safe. "I Gave My Blood" and opener "Terorvision" are, well, boring. There's the standard slow down section a la "Enter Sandman" and it sucks.
Then there's the purely awful lyrics. "Give Me A Reason" is the crème de la crème for awful lyrics when Doro declares, "This is another lonely morning/ It feels like another lonely night/ I'm almost sure I'll give up hoping/ Or shouldn't I give it one more try." There isn't an ounce of decency in those lyrics. It's equally awful in "I Wanna Live" when she sings, "I wanna live/ Don't wanna die/ And that's the way it is." Really?? Who the hell wants to die??
So the musicians, for the most part, are boring. The lyrics are cliched and equal parts stupid and moronic. I mean, what in the hell possessed someone to actually write something like this? These are the kind of lyrics that, had I wrote them, I would have crumpled on the floor or deleted from my hard drive.
The worst part is Doro can't even hold her own when she covers another musician's work. She covers Billy Idol's "White Wedding" and it's awful. Critics and fans alike trash cover songs for one of two reasons. Either the cover "doesn't sound any different than the original" or the cover "sounds too different" from the original. (For examples of good covers of songs, pick up the Cherry Disc Records compilation of Boston bands playing Van Halen songs called Everybody Wants Some.) In Doro's case, the tempo of this sucker is way, way too slow. There is so much space between notes during the verse that you are literally begging the guitar player to throw in a little extra frill. Unfortunately, he doesn't and the track is not even mediocre.
There is a current media blitz about Doro's "comeback" to metal. The woman is gorgeous, I disagree not an ounce about that. Her effort on this CD does not come together. I hated this CD.