Bonfire – 'Strike Ten'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Released on BMG Arola Munchen GMBH in 2001

THE BAND:
Hans Ziller –lead, rhythm, acoustic guitar, talk box, backing vocals
Claus Lessmann –lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitars
Jurgen ‘bam bam’ Wielier –drums, backing vocals
Uwe Kolier –bass, backing vocals
Chris Lausman –keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocal

TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Revelation Day” -Instrumental
2.) “Under Blue Skies” -When the musical intro kicks in the main guitar riff has a very big Dio sound to it.  There also is a small lead scale during the intro. The verses are writing and set up in a very simple fashion.  This type of lyrical arrangement makes the song sound very laid back.  The first half of the solo is twined and sounds very thick and melodic.
3.) “Strike Back” –This track opens with a huge drum fill pattern.  From the opening guitar riff the guitar arrangement has certain intensity.  There are a couple pick slides within the guitar pattern.  The pre-chorus of the track has a real huge hook within it.  The track has a huge bass line within the musical arrangement. During the second chorus there is a minor guitar solo that is over shadowed by the lyrics.  The main solo is right after the second chorus and is very intense.  At the end of the track Claus really shows his vocal strength.   
4.) “Down to Atlanta” –The intro to this track has a huge guitar groove.  The writing arrangement on this track is a little unique.  During the verse the arrangement consist of only vocals and drums.  There is a huge Bonfire hook through the chorus that reminded me a lot of their song “I’m Sleeping All Alone”.  The solo on the track at first sounded turned down a little, but the band break the background music down to where it is not over powering.
5.) “Southern Wind” –This semi ballad opens with a very huge laid back lead scale.  Not to get off track too much.  But it just amazes me how American radio stations can sit back and ignore songs like this!!  Listen to the huge ride cymbal sound Jurgen gets on this track.  The ‘ohh’ section of the pre-chorus is almost inaudible and gives the song a nice subtle effect. During the main chorus there are a couple small lead scales.  The solo was very laid back and melodic.
6.) “Good Time Rock ‘N’ Roll” –This track opens with a very laid back melodic guitar pattern. From the opening guitar riff down to the lyrical arrangement this is just a fun loving song.  Jurgen plays a laid back but powerful drum pattern. 
7.) “Until the Last Goodbye”-This track kicks off with a reverbed guitar pattern, before going into a laid back melodic arrangement.  The main guitar pattern was done with standard guitar with a talk box underneath it.  Lyrically the song has a ballad feel to it. This is anther track on this release that would have hit big on American radio.  The chorus has a huge Bonfire hook.  I really liked the way the band incorporated the talk box into the rhythm.  A lot of people talk about rememberable lyrics they should hear this track.  The small breakdown section makes this a great song to perform live.
8.)  “Diamonds in the Rough” –This track kicks off with a drum fill pattern and guitars.  The track kicks in real heavy and a ‘in your face’ sound.  The vocal arrangement and sound completely blew me away.  Drum fill wise Jurgen really shows his drumming ability.  There are a few lead scales during the second verse that where turned down.  The track has two solos one after another.  The first solo is a minor solo and not nearly has intense as the second solo.
9.) “Damn You” –This track opens with a drum fill.  The guitar arrangement of the intro was done with three guitars.  The first and second guitars are playing two different patterns while the third plays a lead guitar scale.  This songs intro was written for a double bass drum pattern, and would have really sounded great on this track.  There are several real small lead scales during the song that are turned down.  There is a acoustic guitar used to fill in some of the empty spots.
10.) “Anytime you Cry”- This track kicks off with a very melodic guitar pattern.  The band breaks the arrangement down during the verses.  At times the arrangement reminded me of older Autograph stuff.  The chorus is very melodic a laid back like with a lot of Bonfire stuff.  The main highlight of the track is the huge breakdown section before the solo.
11.) “Too Much Hollywood” –This track opens with a real laid-back guitar pattern.  At times the vocal arrangement of the verses reminded me of Alice Cooper.  For the chorus the song takes on a Y&T sound.  If this was done on purpose, than I’m glad someone has finally given Meniketti the respect he has deserved!! There are a couple real cool double bass patterns through the song.  The solo was very melodic.
12.) “I Need You” –This track opens with a real cool laid back acoustic guitar pattern.  From the opening verse you can tell this is another track that would have tore up American radio.  The arrangement is a classic pop radio type arrangement. The acoustic lead scales blew me away.  This track in whole made for a great closing on the CD!!


      It was in the eighties when I first heard of the band Bonfire.  The band I was playing with at the time had taken a break from practice to watch MTV’s ‘Headbangers Ball’.  It was during this episode where we caught the video for Bonfire’s “I’m Sleeping All Alone”.  Still to this day the lyric, ‘I’m sleeping all alone. When are you coming home’,  sticks in my head.  
     With “Strike Ten” you have an excellent mixture of solid melodic metal with power ballads. There is a lot of hard rock fans out there that will really like “Strike Ten”.  So if you are a big fan of good solid eighties sounding metal, than this CD is for you.