House of Lords - Saints and Sinners (Album Review)

House of Lords is a band that emerged in the late 1980's and is probably best known for their cover of Traffic's "Can't Find My Way Home". But the band has had a long career, composing melodic and progressive rock for fans of bands like Asia, Whitesnake, Deep Purple and Ten. As familiar as these guys sound, they manage to occupy their own musical space. Band leader James Christian is a thoughtful songwriter who paints his musical landscapes with deep shades of color, while at the same time being laser focused on memorable melodies and choruses. 

The band's latest effort is called Saints and Sinners. In all I'd say the band has moved in a more progressive direction. Keyboardist Mark Mangold has infused Christian's musical ideas with a classical feel. The result is a very unique and meaningful project.

The album opens with a more straight forward rocker, "Saints and Sinners" which really has a Ten vibe. Religious themes abound by lyrics framed with ideas like grace and resurrection. Jimi Bell's guitar work adds a cosmic punch to an already big production. As with all great melodic rock bands, the guitar solos on every song reverberate with intentionality and do more than just compliment the songs. 

"House of The Lord" is one very memorable song. A galloping, edgy guitar riff pounds along and then recedes to a more pop-metal musicscape with Christian's lead vocal delicately soaring to the mountain tops. Mangold does his best Keith Emerson imitation, and you've got yourself a chart single for creative radio formats. "Take It All" is another worthy radio single with big, bold urgency. Three songs in, and you realize that these are well written songs. "Road Warrior" has a hint of "Foreplay" by Boston in its intro but then becomes something more raw and progressive. "Mistress of The Dark" is a song Ozzy could have recorded with more compression. The keyboards steal the show again as they create a memorable groove along with a locked in rythmn section. This is late night driving music in the vein of Golden Earring or Planet P Project.

"Avalanche" is a pure piano ballad which showcases James Christian as an arranger and a singer. The results are pretty impressive. Think Saigon Kick, "Love Is On The Way". "Roll Like Thunder" has a Def Leppard vibe with an abundance of vocal harmonies and qualifies as one of the best tracks on the record. "Razzle Dazzle" is part Led Zeppelin and part Deep Purple with a hint of Queen. The references abound on this project and it's all a good thing. "Dreamin' It All" starts with Johan Koleborg punishing the drum kit and then transitioning to a straight up big melodic rock song with a relentless guitar riff. "Takin' My Heart Back" is another superb rocker that is both melodic and progressive and has one of the best guitar solos on the album. "Angels Fallen" starts rough and then settles into a sweet groove held together by the powerful guitar and keyboard interchanges. The chorus seems to get bigger and more intense as the song reaches its conclusion. It's as if you've concluded your musical workout with one last sprint to the finish. 

In conclusion, this is one serious melodic and somewhat progressive rock band with thoughtful lyrics and a knack for painting big musical portraits. It gets better and better with each listen. Hopefully there is an audience that will appreciate the depth and creativity that went into "Saints and Sinners". One of the best albums of 2022. 

 Album Rating 9.8