Spitfire
Do or Die

I suppose that it was do or die for the Spitfire guys, or perhaps it was only a good title for their third album. As a proponent of fun and fresh ideas in music I cannot say that this one really piques the interest with a fairly drab artwork, the name and title doesn’t exactly trigger any sense of interest either. But I listen anyway, hopefully without prejudice. And my eventual conclusion is that it isn’t a particularly exciting album, and that it is probably wise to look elsewhere for something enjoyable to listen to.

They play a lot on the nostalgic side; the songs feel borrowed from the past. Bands like AC/DC, Motörhead, and whatever they are all called comes to mind. Original ideas are nowhere to be heard, they play it safe with the catchy choruses and structures we have heard a million times before. Even the selection of songs feel a bit uninspiring, and it sounds a little dated. Add to that a singer that sounds as fun as it is to watch paint dry, and you have an album that would only appeal to a certain group of people and you probably know who you are. With the variation of the smaller kind it is also an album that feels a bit on the longer side with its thirteen tracks.

If you like the middle-of-the-road kind of hard rock this should be perfect for you. For me personally this album is lacking in many regards; the amazing songs aren’t there, the ones I hear on the album are average to pretty good. The ideas and personality is also missing, it is the unique things that sets you apart and eventually would lead to success, this album has none of that. It might be telling that the best song of the album is a cover by Tom Petty’s Out in the Cold, usually it says something about the quality of song-writing in a band when they fail to make their own songs better than some random cover song.

In the end I don’t think that this is a bad album, not even close. But they play it too safe and never dares to be great. They probably would have gotten away with it if they had offered some amazing tracks, but they don’t really do that either. In the end I think this album is doomed to be forgotten to collect dust somewhere where the sun’s rays fail to reach. It is another sad view in the rear-view mirror, a dream of a time that was nowhere near as amazing as we remember it. Spitfire falls flat and in hindsight it might have been better not to do.

HHHHHHH