If you thought good old rock music in South Africa is Trevor Rabin and nothing else – think again. Back in 1979 Stingray had their debut album released.
Classy as it is, it didn’t make much of an impact and Stingray were gone after the follow-up entitled Operation Stingray.
However, that tremendous self-titled debut has been re-issued and let me tell you it’s a monster slab of classic sounding hard/heavy/melodic/pomp rock as just as good as the likes of Boston, Journey, Styx, Grand Prix or Zon were pumping out in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Every one of the ten songs here stuffed full off chugging, chopping, driving riffs, clean solos, thumping rhythm section, keyboard/synth washed and crystal clear vocals. Add to that the soaring melodies, glorious hooks and infectious arrangements it’s a flawless effort.
Whilst generally strong songs from start to finish there are a couple of tracks which threaten to go down the soppy, sugary sweet ballad route though do rescue themselves all the same.
The opener – Where Do We Go from Here is a fine scene setter. Includes all the above traits. It rocks, it’s a bit pompy and impossibly catchy with the big hooks.
Better the Devil You Know even more so. This song, as I recall, was something of a hit single and it’s not hard to see why. The chorus/hook is phenomenal as the song chugs along. Simply irresistible. Have a listen:
Lovesaver continues in similar style with yet more massive chords, hooks and more of those soaring melodies.
And on and on it goes. Just cannot go wrong here. Check out also The Man in my Shoes and Hard Headed Loner for a bit of pomped up/proggy style elements too.
There’s a bonus tract of an alternative version of Better the Devil You Know included – which I prefer to the album version as it’s a bit quirky.
Listen to Stingray. Be immediately hooked and wonder to yourself why a band with a debut album as outstanding as this didn’t make it and disappeared after one more album.
Classic melodic/pomp rock at its best. Make no mistake.