Kane Roberts - Saints And Sinners
BMG
Hard-Rock
10 songs (45'05)
Release year: 1991
BMG
Reviewed by Chris
Archive review

If it wasn't for the fact that this album is probably wildly unknown, this would have absolutely all the qualities of a great classic album. If your game is AOR and Hard-Rock and never before heard of this album, then I must point out that you're missing out on one of the best melodic hard-rock album of all times !

Kane Roberts delivered here an atomic melodic bomb that could make Bon Jovi jealous of the material delivered here. The album contains 10 tracks, 10 killer songs that could very well be an homage to 80's Hard-Rock scene, like a best of of this category. With great hooks, amazing choruses, great vocal melodies all highlighted by Kane's best vocals. The opener song, Wild Nights, while almost cliché is a great "in your face" opener song, but probably my least favorite of the album (chorus is to minimalist for my taste). The next song Twisted announces the color for the wave of melody that is about to be unleashed to the listener over the course of Saints & Sinners. Guitars are blazing, simple but effective riffs, hard-rock type keyboards and a strong frontal (sound-wise) rhythm section gives this album a very powerful sound for its time. The solos are there at each and every song, and while not the most original or technical there is, they perfectly achieve their role of making a break in the song. There are songs which chorus are so powerful, so melodic to the bones, that once you'll listen to them you'll never forget them and they'll forever be engraved into your memory for the rest of your life. Songs like Twisted, Rebel Heart, Too Far Gone or my all-time personal favorite Fighter, are all songs that are not of this world ! Usually I'd be happy to purchase an album that only has one of these songs in it even if the rest of the album isn't up to par, but here its a thrill ride from the beginning to the end, with no weak moments whatsoever. The third track is a ballad, and god what a ballad this is : Does Anyone Really Fall In Love Anymore. This is a song that Bon Jovi wished he would have written (Correction: Bon Jovi actually WROTE that song but it never made it to an album (bad move), so this is in fact a Bon Jovi cover song. It does explain why it does sound so Bon Joviish :) ). Now some of you who know me know that I can be quite hard on ballads, they really need to be perfect for me to like them, and this is one of them, a powerful ballad, no doubts about that. There is a reason for this attitude, probably my love for X-Japan, undoubtedly the best band in the world in terms of ballads, nobody can even approach them in my eyes. Anyway, back to Kane Roberts and his incredible album Saints and Sinners. The fourth track Dance Little Sister has a title that makes you think you'll be listening to a silly song but instead its a melodic ride that makes you want to get up and dance to the beat and melodies of this song. I could go on and on and describe you every single song, but its best to let you discover the gigantic slap in the face that awaits you with Saints and Sinner if you're into Hard-Rock and over-the-top chorus and melodies. If you're anything like me songs like Fighter will become instant classics. This album is power charged with positive energy that will reinvigorate your soul and make you feel great about life and how wonderful the gift of music is. This is one album that never fails to put a smile on my face.

I don't really know if this album is as unknown as I think it is. I just know that AOR and Hard-Rock fans will simply love this album, if you like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper (Hey Stoopid era) and similar bands, then I'm sure you'll love this album. I mentioned Alice Cooper cause this album has a little something that reminds me of Hey Stoopid. Kane And Alice have worked together in the past and maybe some influences have crossed over. This album is one of my most precious possessions in the Hard-Rock category, and if you never heard of it I would urge you to try and locate this jewel (that might not be an easy task though) of Saints And Sinners. I got mine in the metalmarkt in Wacken 99, and I can still remember how happy I was to find this album (being a fan of his previous album), but my joy was even bigger the first time I actually listened to it at home and was completely blown away ! An amazing piece of music, thank you Kane Roberts for Saints and Sinners.

Killing Songs :
All, but Twisted, Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore, Too Far Gone, Rebel Heart and the mighty Fighter are simply out of this world !
Chris quoted 97 / 100
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