Love Stallion: Resurrecting Glam With “Unforgettable” Debut

Track list:

Slow Release.

Ignite the Night.

Big Rock Radio.

Lazy Summer Dream.

Hide Me Away.

Tinker Boys.

High Time.

Trans Am.

We live in very interesting times when it comes to Hard Rock music: while the internet has made the music business decline in terms of sales, it has also provided an opportunity for bands to branch out and do the kind of music they want to do, regardless of what’s hot in the market or not. No longer are you going to see Thrash bands trying to adapt to the Nu Metal movement of the late 90s or Heavy Metal bands adapting to the Grunge era of the early 90s.

These are times of musical freedom and anyone can do what they feel, which has meant a resurrection of sorts for the Glam movement that was so popular in the 80s, showcasing its main champions in the shape of Whitesnake, Ratt, Poison, Mötley Crüe and a few others. This is where Love Stallion comes to the scene.

Love Stallion is a clear example of what the internet has provided for musicians all over the world: a very young Denver-based group whose sound has a lot to do with the 80s Glam Rock scene and where you are going to find a lot of that particular influence in this debut album, their very enjoyable “Unforgettable Ride.”

You can really tell what I’m saying by listening the album’s opener, “Slow Release:” Aaron Hart and Rob Mclemore’s guitars drop a riff that Hard Rock veterans would identify–one that has a lot of similarities to what the likes of Ratt, Mötley or Van Halen were doing back in the early 80s. A happy, uplifting mid-tempo where Hart’s playful vocals are definitely the star of the show and that sets up for the rest of the album.

On other highpoints, the use of cowbell in the short “Ignite the Night” is certainly a very interesting detail considering the musical approach of these young men and “Big Rock Radio,” the band’s actual original name before breaking through, could easily be one of the finest tracks in the whole album (the unforgettable one, am I right? Okay, I know where the door is) with a very dominating bass line by Aero X, which always reminds of how 80s musicians of the LA scene always donned nicknames–they even had that figured out. “Lazy Summer Dream” is, much like the vast majority of the album, an enjoyable composition, thoroughly made and with a great chorus.

Then we have “Hide Me Way,” which is a slower track and perhaps one of the weakest of the bunch, but still something we could enjoy at a party with a few friends. One of the band’s strongest attributes is certainly Hart’s vocals and that is something you can tell in “Tinker Toys”, if you ask me; that mix of Vince Neil and David Coverdale’s 80s period really gives that mid-tempo song a lot more character.

The band tends to shift the songs’ tempo a bit, but we get to see them maintaining a somewhat slow pace with “High Time,” allowing Mclemore, a more than capable guitarist, to enjoy himself and give himself a bit of room to try a few tweaks here and there. We finish the party with “Trans Am” and the drummer, Dax Jordan, taking a center stage of sorts, thus giving his drumming the chance to shine in the album–quite low key for a Hard Rock album, it has to be said.

Overall, “Unforgettable Ride” is a very enjoyable and fun album that can be listened from beginning to end with no problem whatsoever; Love Stallion’s music is fun, without many complications and consciously aware of the sound they were looking for–and they achieved it, which is a key element for any musician that wants to aspire for greater heights.

-Kevin Tanza