Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings

 "Pawns & Kings" is the 7th album by US rock band Alter Bridge.  Alter Bridge released their debut "One day remains" back in 2004, although members had very successful bands before Alter Bridges inception.  Myles fronted Mayfield four. While other 3 members Mark, Brian and Scott made up 3/4 Creed. I was never really that into either of those bands but appreciated some of the singles.  But over the last 3 or 4 years Alter Bridge have rapidly become one of my favourite bands.   They just have not written a bad album.  This is really a testament to how talented all the members of this band are.  They are next level.

And with "Pawns & Kings" they have well and truly continued this streak.  Previous album "Walk the sky" saw them shorten the songs a bit and make it a bit more of an in-your-face rock album.  "Pawns & Kings" in contrast feels a bit heavier and more complex.  Also lengthening some of the songs too.  Generally, Alter Bridge albums have 12-13 tracks. But unusually for them this sits at 10 tracks which means although some of the songs are longer; Because of the reduction in number of tracks this is actually a shorter album than usual sitting at 53 minutes.  It has to be said though, that is a decent length.

Title track "Pawns & Kings" was the first track to be released off the album which was quite surprising as it is one of the longer tracks on the album sitting at just over 6 minutes.  It is a wonderful track though and allows you to see the best of all the band members.  One strange thing I find about this track though is the position of it on the album as it is the last track.  I find this strange as it just doesn't feel like an album closer.  In fact, I would say its better as an album opener given the amazing intro. Which I think is a much better intro than the one they went for in "This is War".  Don't get me wrong it is a great song and I think the idea was to end with a strong track.  It's just I feel it would have been a more impactful opening.  This is a bit uncharacteristic because generally I feel Alter Bridge are the absolute masters of picking the right opening and closing tracks.

I wouldn't say the track positioning deteriorates the album quality though as there is plenty of top tuneage to be found on here.  "Silver Tongue" and "Holiday" are probably the biggest rock anthems of the album.  "Stay" is Mark's moment to shine vocally, which he does ever so well as usual.  Myles is obviously the main singer of Alter Bridge.  But we all know from Mark's solo project and "Water Rising" and "Forever Falling" Mark is a great vocalist too.  My favourite song on the album though, is also the longest in the form of “Fable of the silent son” which sits over 8 minutes.  The way the song transitions from one part to the next is magnificent and the solo in around 5 to 6 minutes is an absolute joy.

Overall, Alter Bridge have well and truly done it again.  An absolutely wonderful album full of rocktastic tunes.  Many bands get to their 7^th album and run out of ideas, but this band just keep knocking it out the park like a well-oiled machine.