ROULETTE - Better Late Than Never

Here we go with this kind of compilation by this band. ROULETTE is a band formed back in 85' releasing an album entitled Fool For Your Love in 88'. In 90' they changed their name to CHERRY RED and signed with CBS for an album that never was released, just a single called Only The Strong was edited. Time passes and in 2008 was released a compilation under the name Better Late Than Never with tracks from the first album and from the never released one... and three years later we have the remastered edition. Well, this is proper 80's rock album, full of keys, catchy choruses and well produced though provably you will need more than one listening to get into this album. The album opens with Only The Strong that is one of the highlights and could have been a hit but, though Thomas Lundgren is a good singer, i believe that a singer with a higher range would fit better with this track. The song opens with an a cappella intro that could have been avoided but grows into a fantastic song with a precious guitar solo. Run Girl is totally 80's with funny mood and keys everywhere while Better Late Than Never comes with heavier guitars and more early 90's production. The only ballad is called Evangeline, another highlight with beautiful chorus but once again is missing a higher octave singing. Lundgren vocals are rough and powerful and the weight of his voice is noticed in backing vocals all through the album so mellower backing vocal are missing. The album comes with two bonus tracks Waiting For The Heartache and I Do, in fact, the second one is one of my favorites . I Do is built on guitars and some kind of Hammond so because of the rawer sound fits better with Lundgren's voice.
The rest of the album keeps the 80's vibe full of keys that sometimes are a little strident.
In summary, this band have some similarities with NETWORK or RED DAWN but with more middle 80's sound.

Best Tracks (in order of preference):

Only The Strong
I Do
Evangeline
Run Girl
City Heat
Reachin' For You

This album is worth of 3.9 out of 5 ROCKS!!!