Review Bonfire - Live on Holy Ground 2019

Tracks
1. In the Beginning
2. Ready 4 Reaction
3. Never Mind
4. Don ́t touch the light
5. American Nights
6. Give it a try
7. Sword and Stone
8. SDI
9. Sweet Obsession
10. Champion
Bonus Tracks:
11. Praying 4 A Miracle
12. Locomotive Breath
13. American Nights (2019)
14. Sweet Obsession (2019)

Band:
Hans Ziller – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Alexx Stahl – Lead Vocals
Ronnie Parkes – Bass, Backing Vocals
Frank Pané- Guitar, Backing Vocals
André Hilgers – Drums, Percussion

Discography:
1986: Don't Touch the Light
1987: Fireworks
1989: Point Blank
1991: Knock Out
1996: Feels Like Comin' Home
1998: Rebel Soul
1999: Fuel to the Flames
2001: Strike Ten
2003: Free
2006: Double X
2008: The Räuber
2011: Branded
2011: Fireworks... Still Alive
2012: Cry For Help (EP)
2015: Glorious
2017: Byte the Bullet
2018: Temple of Lies
2018: Legends

Guests:
Tim Breideband, Harry Reischmann – Drums
Paul Morris, Fredrik Bergh, Alessandro DelVecchio – Keyboards
Alessandro DelVecchio, Mike Gerhold – Backing Vocals

Info:
Filmed & recorded live at Wacken Open Air on August 4th, 2018
Mix & Mastering: Tom Müller (Flatliner Studios)
Produced by: Hans Ziller
Additional Recordings by Rolf Munkes at Empire Studios
Virtual set extensions for American Nights by andreas.resch@world-of-visions.de
Locomotive Breath – Byron Mansylla, AVMS
Artwork design: The Digital Dictators

Released 2019-06-14
Reviewed 2019-07-04

Links:
bonfire.de
youtube
pride & joy

Bonfire has played on holy ground, this is a recording from Wacken last year. The band has selected ten tracks from their long career and then added four studio songs as bonus tracks; they also come as videos on the DVD-release. This live album is released on DVD, on CD and LP and as I have not received the video material this review is most relevant for the releases without the video. I found it somewhat strange though that it doesn’t seem to come as a blu-ray edition, it is a bit strange considering that those a lot better than DVDs. I can however report that the cover art is pretty good and the alum should be relevant at least to the fans of Bonfire and their music.

Melodic hardrock or AOR is the style of this band; they are quite catchy and melodic, easily accessible and such. The live production is good; the sound is good so I think we can claim that the performances are good. Good selection of songs with good variation, perhaps the album is a bit short for a live release, but they have added four bonus tracks/videos of studio songs that end the album. I think that is a little bit excessive, two would have been more than enough. This is a very solid live production, and it is a pretty good one.

The songs are good and I would say that this is a good live album, even though I am not fully convinced that it will make much of a mark. Fans of Bonfire will most certainly think of this as a great release and so will many fans of the melodic rock genre. However, I don’t think that it is a standout release; it is good but will probably not go down in history and be remembered down the ages. Nevertheless, it is an album that will not make you disappointed with your purchase or download, at least not from the musical standpoint – the video I cannot comment on, as I haven’t seen that material.

So, if you are a fan of Bonfire you should consider getting this album, you will not be disappointed if you like the genre in general either. For the more casual music fans there are better choices both in terms of live albums and albums in general. The conclusion will have to be that Bonfire has put together a solid but also a little bit unspectacular live album.

HHHHHHH

Bonfire Live on Holy Ground

Bonfire
Live on Holy Ground