Stone Fury
The Best Of

Here I am again to review another excellent album, the "greatest hits" of Stone Fury, a band formed in L.A. back in '83. Line-up includes: Lenny Wolf (Ayreon, Kingdom Come), Bruce Gowdy (guitar) (Unruly Child), Rick Wilson (bass), Jody Cortez (percussion). The band's musical offering is Melodic rock/hard rock.

The collection kicks off with the famous 'Break down the walls' for which there is also a video, featuring a nicely paced opening riff supported by Lenny Wolf, a technically gifted singer, with a nasal timbre on the lows and electric on the highs, who picks up the melody adding his touch of class. Already from this track, it is evident that the band does not lose its excellent melodic touch even in the choruses, which are often trivial compared to the structure of the lyrics in many bands. 'Lies on the run' resumes with a slower yet equally beautiful melody, where Lenny shifts between high and low registers, while the base sees the introduction of synthesizers that then lead into the guitar at the end of the tempo. 'Too late' together with 'Shannon you lose' are the most romantic songs, although they do not entirely lose the rock base: the former is marked by keyboards and guitar, and the vocal intonation begins in a dark and dragging manner, always effective; and the latter, where Lenny sings almost unaccompanied.

'Life is too lonely' is also marked by keyboard, bass, and guitar, maintaining a high melodic effect that culminates in the chorus. 'Mama's love' is more inclined towards heavy-metal, without fully embracing it. 'Babe' is a slow song, with beautiful vocal lines. It is followed by another success of the band 'Let them talk' featuring excellent keyboard or xylophone, a slow melody that completes in the beautiful cadence of 'let them talk' repeated by Lenny in the chorus. 'Eye of the storm' and 'I hate to sleep alone' maintain equal melodic beauty, with the latter leaning towards heavy metal. The already mentioned 'Shannon you lose' closes the album excellently, perhaps being the track that best summarizes the band's melodic sensibility.

I conclude by saying that if this band at the time did not quite manage to climb the charts' peaks, I would be curious to know which other groups, according to the public, would have better embodied this melodic-rock genre.