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Vengeance > Take It or Leave It > Reviews
Vengeance - Take It or Leave It

Tailor-made for the '80s, but still fun - 70%

Brainded Binky, November 11th, 2013

What can you expect from a band called Vengeance? I'm pretty sure you'd expect it to be something as pounding and aggressive as a thrash or a death metal band, but not these guys! This band of Dutchmen is a heavy metal band that had its salad days in the mid to late '80s, and their music was anything but aggressive. Theirs was more of the mainstream '80s rock and metal sound, but it wasn't really a "hair band", so it's really kind of hard for me to decide whether to love it or hate it. But, does this album, "Take It or Leave It" hold up? Let's find out.

Hmmm....It doesn't seem too bad, I mean, there's some nice hooks it's got there, and the lead vocalist isn't really annoying like Bret Michaels or Mark Slaughter. Well, much of their songs are kind of a radio-friendly rock songs, but hey, I seem to enjoy them a little bit. The band does a great job in inventing hooks that grab people's attention and it shows on all of the songs on this album. The song titles are also somewhat generic for the time, like "Take Me to the Limit" or "Aint Gonna Take You Home". Regardless of those factors, this album is actually pretty decent. It's got that nostalgic '80s-style heavy metal quality to it. Maybe that's why I kind of like it.

Because it's '80s-style metal, it just couldn't go without any sort of stupidity, "Rock 'n' Roll Shower" being one factor. Not only are the lyrics ridiculous, but it's also got this annoying robotic voice that comes in during the chorus. I wouldn't mind it so much if it was only used once, but they use it a lot in the song, and it really gets infuriating. "Looks of a Winner" is also kind of a pet peeve. It's a typical song of some sexy lady that was quite common in the '80s, especially among hair bands.

And then there's the instrumental "Engine". I was actually blown away by this track, cos it's tempo is actually pretty fast, something a traditional metal band of the '80s would typically avoid. The musicianship in it is also excellent. I really didn't see that chugging riff coming, and the soloing is also quite tasty. I've gotta say that "Engine" is the best track on the album, cos it surprised me with its tremendous riffs and solos. I never expected such a song to come out of this album.

Yeah, this band was just meant for the '80s, but I still enjoyed it to some extent. Hair band or not, this album does manage to deliver some good songs and there is plenty to like about it. It might be a little cheesy to some, but sometimes a little cheese can actually taste pretty good. I am actually very impressed with this album, even if the songs were meant to be a little catchy.