One wonders how a proper review can be done with a bunch of unfinished tracks. Sure, most of the material is here in this promo-CD I’m trying to review but it really pisses me off having to judge an album that effectively I haven’t heard.

Anyway, marketing gripes aside, sophomore album “Sons Of Thunder” marks the return of a band more than 20 years after its debut. The “Project” album had in fact been one of the forgotten gems of the 1980s and back then had a stellar line-up of Tony Macalpine (Steve Vai, CAB, solo, et al), Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, House Of Lords, et al), Rudy Sarzo (Dio, Whitesnake, Malmsteen, Quiet Riot, et al) and Rob Rock (Impellitteri, Axel Rudi Pell, solo, et al). To be entirely correct, the band had originally been monikered M.A.R.S. – an acronym of the band members’ surnames – and the debut had been called “Project: Driver”. For those who hadn’t heard that album, it consisted of some fantastic hard rock songs played with breathless virtuosity. Basically the line-up’s potential had truly delivered.

Back to the present……“Sons…” follows the same stylistic and conceptual approach as its predecessor. Only Rob Rock remains from the previous line-up. Rob is such a gifted vocalist and I admit I’ve always regarded him as one of the all-time best singers of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal. This time around with Rob we have Roy Z (Bruce Dickinson, Tribe Of Gypsies), Reynold ‘Butch’ Carlson, Ed Roth (Glenn Hughes, Rob Halford) and Aaron Samson – respectively on guitars, drums, keyboards and bass. The quality of “Sons…” seems to be very good although, apparently, it doesn’t quite rise to the levels of “Project”.

I would be able to confirm my impressions and rate the album as soon as I get an ‘unshortened’ version of “Sons Of Thunder”.