Steelheart
Tangled In Reins

THE REVIEW

Now, who among you has ever heard of the Steelheart? Many of you? Well, congratulations. Few of you? Then read below, please.

As we were saying, Steelheart was formed about fifteen years ago around the figure of Miljenko Matijevic, the talented voice of the band and its leader. In '91, they made their debut with a self-titled album, achieving some success, and soon established themselves as a solid hard-rock band; to be honest, Steelheart plays a sort of melodic heavy metal, and they appear at concerts with flamboyant hair and flashy clothes, so they were quickly labeled as street-metal.

Despite the band being a good mix of talent, passion, and quality, the album didn't break through; so, following their first work, overall good but full of exaggerations (too many high-pitched vocals, little melody), Steelheart released a new album, ‘Tangled in Reins’: as usual, some shout masterpiece, some turn up their noses, and some know nothing about it; yet this time Matijevic and company really made a big hit.
The album is indeed convincing, showcasing energetic, catchy, powerful, fun tracks; a real gem is ''Steelheart'', a concentration of rhythm and speed, with an excellent performance by the drummer and then, damn, that high note is worth all the money spent: ''Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelheart...'''

But it doesn’t end there, of course; there are two or three impactful tracks, primarily ‘‘Electric Love Child’’, a cadence song with great appeal -''Touch my body, crush my soul, love...'' - then ‘‘Mama Don't You Cry’’, a melancholic piano and voice ballad. There are also intense tracks, like ‘‘Loaded Mutha’’, a great performance by the whole band, or ‘‘Sticky Side Up’’, which is equally heavy, not to mention ‘‘Late For The Party’’, a lively and engaging song; and then some romance never hurts, and here’s ‘‘All Your Love’’, a sweet and sincere ballad.
Needless to say, appreciating the album requires listening to it over and over again, to experience it firsthand; and in the end, one can't help but wonder why Steelheart, capable of fair displays of technique and ingenuity, were so overlooked to the point of going unnoticed: is it necessary to be named Axl, indulge heavily, and have legal issues to be successful?

I really think so.