It's good to see that years pass but some things stay the same. I'm talking about Wolfsbane, with their vocalist Blaze Bailey, after the relatively short experience with Iron Maiden and tons of solo material. Genius is Wolfsbane's first album in a decade since 2012's "Wolfsbane Save The World".
Simon "Mackie" Piasecki, who also designed the covers for Wolfsbane's 1990 classic EP "All Hell's Breaking Loose Down At Little Kathy Wilson's Place" and their 1991 follow-up album "Down Fall The Good Guys," designed the artwork of this album.
Well, the cover is not amazing, as it doesn't really look original to me (who said Harley Quinn?) but let's focus on the music and on something that I like: the length and the structure of the album (10 seconds for a little more than half an hour), the general sound and the opener, to me the best song of the album: Spit it out is energetic, with great lyrics and pure fun: it sounds like it was written 30 years ago.
The album is very enjoyable but honestly, apart from the opener, to me is without standout hits. Apart from the opener, I enjoyed songs like Things are getting better, Impossible love (very catchy) and the final ballad I Was Born In ‘69, very old style. It's good to discover that Blaze's voice didn't change much and still fits perfectly the "happy hard rock" of the band, rather than only his pure solo heavy metal material.
If you are an old fan of the band you will probably enjoy Genius.
Rating 65/100
Top tracks: Spit it out, Impossible love, Things Are Getting Better.
TRACK LISTING:
01. Spit It Out
02. Zombies
03. Impossible Love
04. Rock The Boat
05. Small Town Kisses
06. Things Are Getting Better
07. Good Time
08. Rock City Nights
09. Running Wild
10. I Was Born In ‘69
LINEUP:
Blaze Bayley:
Jason Edwards: Guitar
Jeff Hateley: Bass
Steve « Danger » Ellett: Drums