Pink Cream 69
Food for Thought

With Change, Pink Cream 69 hit us with quite a punch: the disappointment was significant, and it took some time for them to regain credibility.

The big surprise is David Readman, who joined in place of Deris in 1994, delivering a performance that is finally more effective compared to the mimicry that occurred with Change. Indeed, with this album, Pink Cream 69 will live a second life (albeit in a very timid way).

"Food For Thought" dated 1997 is one of the most intimate albums ever released by the all-nation band, consisting of David Readman, English, vocals, Dennis Ward, American, bass, Alfred Koffler, German, guitar, and Kosta Zafiriou, Greek, drums. An album very devoted to melody, but in which hard rock is not lacking. In some instances, alternative elements are not entirely neglected, even if, fortunately, they are present in a minimal way.

The album starts with "Snap", a simple and straightforward song that isn't too bad, although a bit alternative at the start, but containing a good chorus that finally brings back some light; it gets even better with "Big Shot", a good simple hard rock track that packs a punch with a great Readman and a great solo by Koffler; "Anger" is a paced hard rock that hasn't been heard in a while, with an excellent chorus and a sublime performance by Readman (even in the filtered voice parts). "Diggin' Through The Past" highlights the deeper side of Pink Cream 69, with melodies that had never been brought out before! Highly underrated. The same sweetness is also used for the good but inferior, "Better Days". "Until I Wake" instead highlights the alternative spectrum in both the beginning and end, saving itself only with the central chorus. "Fate" is another introspective song with a very refined melody and good rock part. It is not a tendency towards AOR, to be clear, but simply rhythms and melodies reminiscent of Winger's Pull, although light-years away from that masterpiece.

Next is the cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You": it's a rather unusual cover, entirely different both in sound and approach compared to a standard elaboration of the original. One of the most successful songs, although it pays a slight tribute in terms of choruses to Alice In Chains, is "Dead Man's Scream", with a Readman finally heard at his vocal peak, especially towards the end, and excellent solos by Koffler. "Pass You By", on the other hand, sounds rather insipid and doesn't fully convince me (perhaps because this time Ward and company seem a bit unsure of the direction to take). The threatening onset of Zafiriou's drums opens the unhealthy and unfortunately once again Alice In Chains-influenced "Other Side" (choruses included!). "Fly On" follows the trajectory of "Pass You By" and thus adds little, "Sorry" is an almost similar ordeal, but at least it's not grunge, and the album finally closes with the successful "(Down) My Way", which serves as a bridge between what this album has shown and the future masterpiece named Electrified.

In conclusion, I can tell you that there are too many ballads/semi-ballads: after all, I mentioned at the beginning that it was the most intimate album, but this didn't mean having a masterpiece in hand! Indeed, the album, especially after the first half, gets too lost, and I believe this is also because with Food For Thought, Pink Cream 69 indeed wanted to restart a certain discourse, but not in a complete and unsure manner. Still, I recommend listening to this too underrated album, which contains some nice little songs. It may not be a masterpiece, but at least it was a starting point to restart from. And indeed, a year later, they came back strong with the immense Electrified.