NEGATIVE – War Of Love

War of Love is the debut album from five young Finnish guys who I hereby state the world definitely will hear a lot more from in the years to come. Already getting high status in their home country, and MTV attention, they seem to have been reaching upwards all the way prior to their debut release posted for late October.

Sounding A LOT like Enuff Z’Nuff on a moody day they rock along the edge between hard rock and pop music. For some reason they’ve chosen to call themselves Negative, a name which doesn’t totally sum up all the emotions the band distributes. Still, looking at the lyrics, you might wonder how the main composer and singer Jonne Aaron even gets out of bed with all his heartache and sorrow.

War of Love travels across a landscape without a lot of twists and turns, but the horse they are riding makes the ground shake. Colored with a large spectrum of edgy and various guitar sounds the guitar players Larry Love and Christus pleases you trough an album in the tradition of melodious and passionate rock. As well as sounding like Enuff Z’Nuff, as mentioned, they can be compared to LA Guns, Norway’s big-in-the-eighties’ Stage Dolls and Cheap & Nasty ( anyone remembers? ). Track three, «After All», the album’s first single, is a fine pop-oriented tune sounding like Savage Garden on the rocks. Songs in the punk-direction ( e.g. «Inspiration» ) makes the album balance on its edge.

I don’t find any weak tracks here. They are all performed with a great attention to details and drama. «Lost Soul», «The Moment of our Love» ( on the charts in Finland ), «1000 Nails in my Heart» and «Goodbye» are all great examples on how good new and young bands could keep the tradition of quality rock alive.

Well done!