System X

Untitled Document Wow, I was wrong! After the lackluster album Crunch and the subsequent departure of Rob Rock, I had pretty much written off Impellitteri. Upon receiving this album, I was fully prepared to be disappointed. I am pleased to say that I was proved very wrong after listening to System X. Chris Impellitteri has recruited his former frontman, Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatrazz) to front the band once again. When I first heard of the reunion with Bonnet, I immediately thought this new album would be very much a laid back affair. Wrong again. Bonnet sounds nothing like his Alcatrazz days (which I like as well). He sounds as if he ate some hornets and drank snake venom for breakfast :) ! His delivery is very intense, yet melodic which fits the music quite nicely. Also present in his delivery is a bit of grittiness a la David Lee Roth. Simply put, Bonnet has adapted his delivery to that of pure, raw, 100% heavy metal. This album features ten tracks of melodic metal majesty. Chris Impellitteri has more than made up for the below average to sometimes hideous songwriting of the previous album (Crunch). I had honestly thought he had run fresh out of ideas after that album. Maybe he was simply saving those great ideas for this wonderful album? Full of melody, each of these songs is heavy metal to the core featuring catchy chorus lines, technical solos and shred work by Chris Impellitteri. It seems as if Chris Impellitteri has rediscovered his inspiration as the music is infinitely better than what was found on Crunch. Several songs on System X are inspired by the terrorist events of 9/11/01. From this tragedy, it appears that Chris found great motivation to express his thoughts with his music. The energy and emotion is enough to explode your CD player. Songs like United We Stand, Perfect Crime, End Of The World (fantastic song!), and Why Do They Do That bleed with emotions ranging from anger all the way to optimism and courage. The guys certainly had a purpose and a desire in mind when they recorded this album. Their dedication and hard work pays off big. There are also songs like She's A Nighttime Love and Falling In Love With a Stranger that are upbeat, and simply fun to listen to with their party like vibe. This is the type of CD that begs to be played over and over again mainly due to the catchiness of the songs and the sheer energy that is emitted from beginning to end. If you enjoyed albums such as Screaming Symphony and Answer to the Master, I see no reason why you should skip this album. The Rob Rock purist fans of the band may take a spin or two to get used to Bonnet's delivery. But rest assured that Bonnet's delivery is a perfect match for the theme and attitude of this album. Having said that, keep in mind that I am a huge Rob Rock fan from his days in Joshua all the way up to his latest solo release and the latest Warrior album. For any fan that lost interest in this band (yes, I'm guilty) after Crunch, do yourself a favor and at least try this album. It appears that Chris has learned from the downfalls of Crunch and returned out of the blue with one of my favorites heavy metal albums of 2002 thus far. Welcome back Chris!