Classic album - finally remastered
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 09/19/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Originally released in 1987, Fireworks is the second album by the long-running German melodic hard rock band Bonfire. As good as the band's debut album was, Fireworks was where everything seemed to come together, the result of which is arguably Bonfire's best album.
If you look at European AOR and melodic rock today, the different styles are quite noticeable, with British, Swiss, Swedish, and German being the major sounds. The German melodic rock sound pretty much comes back to Bonfire (and later Fair Warning). Bonfire's brand of melodic rock merged the radio-friendly approach of Bon Jovi with the hard hitting yet always melodic style of their countrymen the Scorpions.
20 years later, Fireworks remains the best example of Bonfire's sound. The album features a great assortment of hard rockers ("Ready 4 Reaction", "Never Mind") and catchy party anthems ("American Nights" and the cover of Surgin's "Sleeping All Alone"), and as ballads go, "Give It a Try" isn't half bad. Great guitar work, great vocals, great melodies...great album!
Fireworks is an important album in AOR/melodic rock, but it is also an album that most 80's rock fans should check out. They don't make `em like this anymore!
Edition Notes: Fireworks - along with 1986's Don't Touch the Light and 1989's Point Blank - were reissued by Yesterrock in 2009. The reissues feature digitally remastered sound, which is a big plus, but the liner notes and overall presentation is a bit lackluster. The Fireworks reissue features a hefty 8 live songs added as bonus tracks. They're decent enough additions, but only half of them are Fireworks songs, and I have to wonder if adding separate bass and drum solo tracks was really worthwhile."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
