Idle Cure

Item: 2nd Avenue
Author: Daniel Baillod

2nd Avenue

(1990)

Reviewed by Daniel Baillod

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Label Frontline RecordsAdonai Metal Rock #4May 1991

aor arena rock hard rock melodic metal

Translated from the original French

Whoaahh, what a wallop!!! This album is hyper crisp. If IDLE CURE up to now lacked muscle, "2nd Avenue" proves to us -if need be- that the guys in IDLE CURE are real rockers packed with talents. "2nd Avenue" is far more muscular than their previous opus "Tough Love", only two slows on the album ("Contend For The Faith" and "Ordinary Man").

"Pray", the single climbing the Christian charts, has an organ intro that is not bad at all, before setting off on a marching rhythm (a war march?)... If there is a war, it is the one the rockers of IDLE CURE are taking part in: the war of prayer.

"It's No Fun Anymore", "Human Solution", "The Picture Of Love", "Don't Turn Away"... all hits, with big choruses, with great reinforcements of very rock'n roll guitar, sprinkled with keyboards. Steve SHANNON's vocals are still very impressive, muscular, and often snarling, but always melodic: feeling, the real thing!!

Let us note the official arrival of Clark EDMOND on drums. Until now, IDLE CURE had no drummer (neither on "Tough Love", nor on "Idle Cure") and the band therefore had to call on a studio musician. The arrival of this drummer brings a more rock touch to IDLE CURE. So much the better.

On the other hand there is still no bassist; it is the synth that does all the work. It is the same on stage, so it appears...

On the lyrics side, it is superb!! Prayer ("Pray"), death ("It's No Fun Anymore"), love ("The Picture Of Love"), forgiveness ("Talk It Out"), commitment to God ("If You Mean It"), etc... Let us recall that IDLE CURE has worked a great deal lately with YOUTH WITH A MISSION (the equivalent of JEUNESSE EN MISSION, in France).

The flagship tracks on the album are "Talk It Out", "If You Mean It", and "Dead Or Alive": giant choruses thanks to hyper muscular choral vocals, seriously swinging tempos, solos to give you the shivers, and above all those irreplaceable (and therefore unique...) vocals of Steve SHANNON... These are metallic hits one would like to hear on every radio network in France. It is Hard FM with a capital H. It is excellent, it is quite simply the good stuff, real Californian melodic hard. To be got hold of as a matter of the greatest urgency...!