Well yesterday was a great day for your reviewer. Why? The new Bonfire single arrived in my mailbox!!! Hell yes!!! I thought Strike X was the best melodic hard rock album I have heard in quite some time and is one of the very few albums out there that is 100% pure kick ass material so my expectations were quite high for the upcoming album and Tell Me What You Know is the fans first listen to new Bonfire. I’ll be honest. This isn’t their best work but to compare it to songs like You’re Back, Damn You, Ready For Reaction, and Heat in the Glow is a daunting task. Rather, it reminds me of a mix between Rebel Soul and Feels Like Coming Home with an almost pop sensibility but with class. What also comes to mind is that it sounds like a bit of modern Def Leppard actually, but in a good way, as if X worked out instead of leaving the listener confused.

Tell Me What You Know is a laid back song with a good rock drive to it that has a good rhythm and has a nice beat and as usual it has a chorus that is more infectious than Ebola. Once again Bonfire has crafted a song that deals with relationships, this time with the breakup side of things. There’s also some soft female vocals that appear twice throughout the track that gently repeat the chorus to add even more feel to the song. Now some purists might be disappointed by this if they were expecting You’re Back part II but all in all I find this a very enjoyable tune that my mind keeps coming back to whenever it has a chance to lull. Believe me you’ll find yourself singing, “Tell me what you know, tell me what you know, did you figure out what you left me for…” over and over again out of nowhere when you least expect it.

The A-side is backed up by three live tracks from their Live Over Europe release, Goodnight Amanda, (terrific ballad) Good Time Rock n Roll, and Until the Last Goodbye. All three songs have a very powerful live sound to them with Until the Last Goodbye being the best out of the three. Granted, I would have preferred some more studio material seeing as the hardcore Bonfire that I am, I already have owned Live Over Europe for quite some time but in all fairness I really can’t complain too much. If you are a Bonfire fan you would do well to grab Tell Me What You Know post-haste seeing as their new full length won’t be out until September. If you aren’t a Bonfire fan check em out on their website, www.bonfire.de and get some soundclips from all their albums including this one. Keep the Bonfire burning!!!