SHAKRA / BACK ON TRACK (2011)

Swiss melodic hard rockers Shakra are no strangers among the fans of this gerne. With their first releases "Shakra" (1997), and "Moving Force" (1999), and by touring with acts such as Great White and Uriah Heep, the early career of this Swiss heavy band was a steep learning curve with dramatic success but the real breakthrough came with their third record "Power Ride" (2001) when singer Pete Wiedmer was forced to leave the band because of his health issues, replaced by Mark Fox. Fox did an excellent job as Shakra's lead voice but after the release of "Everest", Mark Fox and Shakra took separate ways! The new guy behind the microphone was the yet-unknown John Prakesh and the band started working on a new album.

So here we are in 2011 and the band is releasing the brand new album titled "Back On Track". The fact is that I was never a big Shakra fan even if I own some of the band's previous albums. I also have to admit that I really like what I'm hearing from "Back On Track". It's all about a well played hard rock album with big melodies and very good guitar work. As you all can assume I'm really into bands or solo artists in which the guitar part takes a lead part in the album's final result. And in Shakra the guitar work is very very good! The vocal performances are passionate and the rhythm section is solid as a rock! The songs are all well written and in the whole album there is an 80's feel without sounding cliche! They achieve to mix 80's hard rock sound with some modern heavy elements with such a great way! Songs such as "I’ll Be", "Brand New Day", "Stronger Than Ever"  or even the more commercial tune of "Crazy" are examples of the new Shakra sound!

Bottom line is that "Back On Track" is a very good album which probably will end up high in this year's many Top 10's and set candidancy for Heavy Paradise's final Top list! Well done!
HeavyParadise's Rating :8/10

track list : 01 - B True B You 02 - I'll Be 03 - Crazy 04 - Back On Track 05 - When I See You 06 - MMTWGR 07 - Yesterday's Gone 08 - Someday 09 - Lonesomeness 10 - Unspoken Truth 11 - Brand New Day 12 - Stronger Than Ever