Treat – Coup De Grace
TREAT
COUP DE GRACE
Released on March 19, 2010 (Frontiers Records)
Track List:
01. Predule: Coup De Grace
02. The War Is Over
03. All In
04. Papertiger
05. Roar
06. A Life To Die For
07. Tangled Up
08. Skies Of Mongolia
09. Heaven Can Wait
10. I’m Not Runnin’
11. No Way Without You
12. We Own The Night
13. All For Love
14. Breathless
Band Members:
Robert Ernlund – lead vocals
Anders ‘Gary’ Wikstrom – guitars and vocals
Nalley Pahlsson – bass and vocals
Jamie Borger – drums and vocals
Patrick Appelgren – keyboards, guitars and vocals
Production:
Produced by Anders ‘Gary’ Wikstrom.
Co-produced by Patrick ‘Garbou’ Appelgren.
Recorded and engineered by Goran ‘Leo’ Elmquist.
Review:
In the past few years there have been numerous reunions and comebacks from just about every band that put out an album back in the ’80s. While some of them managed to deliver respectable new discs, which in quality came close to their past work, others delivered sub-par efforts that are not even worth mentioning.
Treat, who first surfaced in the mid-’80s, offer yet another possibility on how to make a successful reunion impact. They put a lot of effort into their song-writing, took their time producing it (remember they’ve been around since reuniting for 2006’s ‘best of’ Weapons Of Choice) and simply created the best album of their career (so far I hope!) with Coup De Grace.
Following a rather lengthy intro we get four rockers which are nothing short of melodic bliss. It’s all there — the riffs, the memorable choruses and the superb musicianship… plus Robert Ernlund‘s voice sounds better than ever before. “A Life To Die For” slows the whole affair down, and might be a little too light for some readers of Sleaze Roxx, but there’s no denying that if this song were written by Bon Jovi it could easily be a massive hit. “Tangled Up” is one of the heavier tracks Coup De Grace offers, even slightly reminiscent of Crazy Lixx, and sets the pace for the second half of the album.
I’ve been trying hard to come up with criticisms for Coup De Grace, but the fact is if you consider yourself a melodic-rock fan you can’t escape the haunting melodies of “Heaven Can Wait” and “No Way Without You”, nor neglect the brilliance of the epic “We Own The Night”. The cover version of “I’m Not Runnin” has hit written all over it and surpasses the original by miles while “All For Love” could have been written for Roxette.
Anders Wikstrom has been a busy and successful songwriter/producer in the past decade or so, working with bands such as Gotthard and Backyard Babies — as have been the other members of Treat. Clearly this is a band that didn’t need to get back together to make a fast buck, but simply because they wanted to. It’s exactly that spirit which shines throughout the entire disc, making Coup De Grace a stunning example of melodic rock done the right way.
www.treatnews.com – www.frontiers.it
Reviewed by Vige for Sleaze Roxx, January 2011
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