The Answer are are one of the few newer bands out there who are all about proving that rock 'n' roll is not dead. Hailing from County Down in Northern Ireland, their bluesy brand of hard rock was very well received with their debut album 'Rise' selling incredibly well, and them winning 'Best New Band' at the 2005 Classic Rock Awards. Since the release of their second album 'Everyday Demons' they have been famed for their live performances, with them playing slots at festivals such as Download and Sonisphere and even touring with rock 'n' roll legends AC/DC. Now they're back with their third studio album 'Revival'.
The opening track 'Waste Your Tears' begins with a nice bluesy little lick before they turn the amps up to eleven and kick in with a combination of drums and a riff that make a powerful opening impression of the album. You can usually judge an album pretty accurately by it's opening track and this is no exception; 'Revival' is hard hitting, with a nice culmination of the both the band's hard rock and blues influences, albeit slightly more on the hard rock side. The most obvious of these influences being Aerosmith - most of the choruses and Cormac Neesons' vocals in general have a huge Steven Tyler feel to them.
The first release of the album is a limited edition double-album with the second disc being a collection of B-sides, live and acoustic tracks entitled 'After The Revival'. The B-Side for the first single, 'Vida (I Want You)', is the acoustic version of 'Can't Remember, Can't Forget', which is pretty damn close to a power ballad, even more so with the acoustic version. It wouldn't surprise me if the B-side off the singles to follow were also tracks off the second disc. The actual single is good and along with the opening track I would say it gives a good feel for the whole album shows it in a pretty good light, so it was a good choice for a first single. A
Another stand out track, which I definitely think should be the next single, is 'Nowhere Freeway', a rock 'n' roll duet with Lynne Jackaman, the singer from Saint Jude (a bluesy, soul-tinged garage rock band – totally recommend them) which again, has a very Aerosmith-esque chorus and would go down great live.
The album is pretty consistent overall and, similarly to The Answer's other material, doesn't ever stray too far from riff-based, wailing rock 'n' roll. Although The Answer have been criticised previously for being “little more than a straight-ahead blues rock outfit” and have evidently strayed a little more than usual from their normal territory with tracks such as 'Destroy Me' and 'Tornado', but even they still build up to, and don't end up sounding too different from, something similar to the rest of the tracks on the album.
I don't think it would be entirely fair to say that The Answer are just a straight-up blues rock outfit, I'd say they were more of a blues influenced hard rock band. I mean they could bluesier, which I think would make them stand out that little bit more. None of the songs on album particularly stand as being blues tracks; although 'Trouble', which is one of the more blues influenced songs on there is, to me, definitely one of the stand out tracks of the album. Even if The Answer were nothing more than a blues rock band that would in no way be a bad thing. In my opinion there aren't enough blues rock bands out there.
Other than getting a better grasp on their blues influences and a little bit of tweaking I think this Irish four-piece have pretty much hit the nail on the head in terms of what they were going for. The musicianship is excellent; Cormac Neeson has an awesome voice, the guitar is powerful and well played with some nice solos and is backed up by a solid rhythm section. The only minor downside musically is the driving but occasionally lacklustre drums. The Answer sound like they should fill stadiums, and after their performances at various festivals over the summer it's hard to see why they don't; maybe the world just doesn't appreciate rock 'n' roll like it did a few decades ago.
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The opening track 'Waste Your Tears' begins with a nice bluesy little lick before they turn the amps up to eleven and kick in with a combination of drums and a riff that make a powerful opening impression of the album. You can usually judge an album pretty accurately by it's opening track and this is no exception; 'Revival' is hard hitting, with a nice culmination of the both the band's hard rock and blues influences, albeit slightly more on the hard rock side. The most obvious of these influences being Aerosmith - most of the choruses and Cormac Neesons' vocals in general have a huge Steven Tyler feel to them. 
