HALL AFLAME
Hall Aflame - Guaranteed Forever (IRS Records) 1991
1. "Shake the Pain" (4:44)
2. "Child of Medicine" (4:17)
3. "The Money" (5:52)
4. "Cold Wind" (4:13)
5. "No How, No Way" (4:29)
6. "Feed the Fire" (4:57)
7. "One Time Winner" (4:43)
8. "Pirate's Life" (4:23)
9. "Pray to God" (3:36)
10. "Slippin' Through My Fingers" (3:50)
11. "Another Heartbeat" (4:33)
12. "Country Angel" (4:39)
Hall Aflame feature Metal Church main man Kurdt Vanderhoof, however they sound nothing like Metal Church. Rather, Hall Aflame remind me a mixture of Circus of Power, Jackyl and Black Oak Arkansas. Opening track in particular has vocalist Ron Lowd sounding a bit like 'ol Jim Dandy. The song is complete with crunchy guitars, a good bit of groove and a bit of mouth harp as well. The next two tracks continue in a similar style. With "Cold Wind" the band slips into an acoustic sound that reminds me a bit of Tesla. "No How, No Way" returns to the Southern, blues based hard rock. For the most part, the entire CD rocks pretty hard, although "Guaranteed Forever" does end one a more melodic, mellow note. "Country Angel" is another acoustic based song. If this song had been recorded by a modern country artist with a bit more twang to his voice, I'd be willing to be that it would be a huge country hit. Overall, "Guarenteed Forever" is a good hard rock album with a bit of a Southern vibe. I'm actually a bit surprised that this was a band headed by Kurdt Vanderhoof, but this just goes to show you the wealth of the man's talent.