Hardline – Life
Release Date: April 26, 2018
Hardline is a band that has flown far below my radar for decades. Why? I wish I could answer that. It wasn’t until I was turned onto German guitar legend Axel Rudi Pell that I was reminded what a monster vocalist Johnny Gioeli is. While I loved his work with ARP, for some reason I was still reluctant to dig into Hardline. 2019 brought their new album, Life, and I have to say that before hitting the play button I was a bit hesitant. I really had high expectations at this point because of knowing what kind of vocalist Gioli is for ARP but then I said, “What the fuck. Here we go!”
The first song, “Place to Call Home” is how you fucking open an album. What a powerhouse song. It’s a melodic, heavy, and powerful song that opens the floodgates for what is a spectacular album. “Take a Chance” is a great nostalgic throwback to the melodic hard rock. Fun hooks, choruses that just beg to be sung along with, and I can even picture myself jamming this in my bedroom with my friends as we passed around a can of Coors light and ate pizza. This is the music that I loved as a kid.
“Page of Your Life” makes a total 180 to a dark yet gorgeous piano-driven power ballad telling a story that any of us looking to the middle of our lives can relate to and ponder on. Did we really get to where we wanted to go and are we happy and proud of how we got there or do we hold regrets? It’s a pretty fucking heavy concept but one that I could relate to wholeheartedly.
“Chameleon” is one of two show stoppers on Life. Gioeli not only takes us on a vocal rollercoaster but the music is such a groove-laden song that you can’t help but do the “white boy bite your bottom lip and nod” thing. There is so much groove to this song that it really stands on its own from the pack yet it fits perfectly in this collection of songs.
I am not going to lie here but the real show stopper beside “Chameleon” is Gioeli and Co’s take on the Queen classic “Who Wants to Live Forever.” First off, covering Queen is a nearly impossible feat and is risky as you are walking upon sacred ground. Second, of all the songs, this song is not one to be trodden upon or performed by the weak but Gioeli hit every note with all the passion, emotion, and heart of someone that very well could’ve written this song himself.
While the rest of Life has Gioeli shining as a writer and a vocalist, “Who Wants to Live Forever” shows that he is more than capable of taking such a gorgeous, classic song and turning into his own thing without any disrespect to the original. The first time I listened to this I cried. The second time, I cried but smiled with a huge feeling of pride for this unsung metal vocalist. It is absolutely stunning and worthy of many listens.
Hardline’s Life really blew me away and who knew that it would end up being one of my favorite albums of the year? As much as I love him in Axel Rudi Pell’s band, I love hearing Gioeli at the wheel doing his own thing. He’s a great songwriter, a powerful vocalist, and Life is an album that I latched onto very quickly.
Life is a powerful time machine that reminded me of the days when bands were about strong hooks, melodic, heavy guitars, and vocalists with voices larger than life. This album also proved to me that those days, while long gone, haven’t gone away; they will continue to come and just get better with age.
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