TNT – The New Territory

Norwegian/British Hard Rockers TNT celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of their first album TNT (1982) with the release of their 10th full-length record The New Territory.

During these 25 years, they’ve had three different vocalists, four different drummers, four different bassists, but only one lead guitarist. The ones on board today from the original line-up are guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø and drummer Diesel Dahl. New for this release is vocalist Tony Mills (ex-Shy). His voice isn’t as extremely high-pitched as Tony Harnell’s is, but he brings other qualities to the table that Harnell didn’t have. Mills’ voice is soaring and heavier, and is often more soothing to the ear than Harnell’s voice. After Harnell’s departure, TNT spent a lot of time touring with Mills, where he more than proved himself worthy as a replacement.

The title, The New Territory, suites the record well, because that’s exactly what this is. Earlier on they’ve had a clear tir into American Hard Rock, but now they’ve entered British territory and they do so with great success. Also, what do you get if you put together the capitol letters from the name of the record? That’s right, you get TNT.

Album opener, “A Constitution,” makes a Folk impression, much due to guest appearances by Sveinung Sundli and Stefan Brisland (both play fiddle). It also shows Tekrø’s abilities to come up with non-traditional and cool riffs. The guitar solo is played over chords that vary 100% from the song’s main riff. You could compare the extreme difference between these two parts to the main riff and the solo part from Dream Theater’s “As I Am.” This part also allows Tekrø to experiment a little bit off-key. This is definitely the way to start an album!

“Substitute” is a happy Hard Rocker. Mills sings a melody line that is synchronous with the main riff played by bass and guitar. It’s really catchy and reminiscent of old school TNT with a twist of Mills. “Are You Blind?” has a groovy bass/guitar riff. The chorus is in typical TNT style, and Harnell is hardly missed at all.

“Golden Opportunity” is the song on this record that is most similar to earlier releases by TNT, and Mills shows that he has no intention of living in Harnell’s shadow. He has amazing capabilities and impresses when he’s singing high-pitched as well as when he sings more heavily. Why drummer Dahl chooses to add a tambourine into this song is a mystery, though. It doesn’t belong on a Hard Rock album, and sounds just stupid. Compliments are due, however, for the cool syncopates and the catchy chorus, which all in all makes this the best and strongest song on the album.

“Something Special” is reminiscent of Jane’s Addiction, mostly due to Mills’ voice sounding very similar to Perry Ferrell’s, but there are also similarities traceable to Queen and The Beatles, due to the British sound. The riff sounds incredibly similar to Mötley Crüe’s “Dr. Feelgood,” but Mills’ voice varies the riff to the point where you don’t give that much thought.

The lyrics on “Now We’re Talkin’” are actually a bit funny. Tony Mills sings a series of Beatles song titles. For instance the chorus is:
“… Across the universe Michelle, I wanna hold your hand, All you need is love, Michelle, I wanna be your man …”
Tekrø has managed to put in melody lines from the classic Beatles songs “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Eleanor Rigby” in the guitar solo. It sounds like the band had a lot of fun writing this one, and it’s a really cool way to pay tribute to a band.

”Wild Life” sounds Boston-inspired and the chorus is filled with vocal harmonies that sound fantastic. The chord progression adds the extra vibe that’s needed. Borge’s bass is a cool and steady Hard Rocker on this track, and fills the ground beneath Tekrø’s guitar perfectly. “Fountain Of Love” is one of the songs that just keep on rolling, and there is really no way to end it. That’s probably why they decided to fade the song ending. Marianne Sveen gives Mills a helping hand with some backing vocals on the chorus, and her voice is soothing, but fails to save the song. It’s very unfortunate that the song doesn’t offer anything else than the chorus that’s repeated countless times. It actually becomes boring after a while.

“June” is a 60’s-inspired British Pop song. This is clearly a song written with The Beatles in mind. It’s a slow and piano-driven song that probably would have become a big hit back in the days. Though the song is beautiful, it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the songs on the album. It’s a Beatles song on a Hard Rock album!

“Can’t Go On Without” is another song in Harnell’s spirit. It’s a happy song and represents old-school TNT. The next song is “Milestone River,” a very dark and melodic ballad. It starts slow with keyboard, drums, and some beautiful Folk-inspired singing from Marianne Sveen, backed by Mari Persen on violin. Mills is almost crying the lyrics. There is a beautiful mix between sad folk tones and Mills’ singing, and it’s an extremely strong track.

This is an album full of surprises and it’s very unpredictable. Fans are introduced to a version of TNT that dares to do something else than deliver traditional Hard Rock songs. On this release, they experiment with Norwegian Folk music and they are also paying tribute to The Beatles.

The New Territory hasn’t got the same amount of guitar masturbation as the previous records, but rather a greater focus on the songwriting. It seems Harnell’s departure and Mills’ arrival has had a positive effect on the band, because most of the songs are written by Tekrø and Mills. And, while the previous album All The Way To The Sun lacked great songs and originality, The New Territory has all of that.

Lineup

• Tony Mills – Lead and backing vocals
• Ronni Le Tekrø – All guitars and backing vocals
• Victor Borge – Bass and backing vocals
• Diesel Dahl – Drums

The New Territory has 13 tracks with a total running time: 45:43