Touch are back out of nowhere after forty years or so with a superb new album – Tomorrow never Comes. Superb pomp/melodic hard rock in that unmistakable 1980s style this time with a bit of a harder edge than their classic debut all those decades ago.
All the required ingredients are here. Original line-up, chugging riffs, biting solos, soaring vocals and harmonies and those glorious, lush keys and synths. Marvellous.
There self-titled debut album was (and still is) a classic of the genre. The band also hold the distinction of being first on the bill at the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Donnington in 1980. I was one of the thousands there though memories of the day are hazy given time passed since – though I do recall buying the Touch debut shortly after the gig.
So what about Tomorrow Never Comes – does the world need another Touch album? The answer to that question is an emphatic yes. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
You know you’re listening to something special after just a few bars of the opener (and title track). I’ll say no more about it other than have a gander at the video.
The rest of the album is all similarly high class, overblown (in a good way) pomp rock of the highest calibre. Sure, the keys and synths are right up there, but so is everything else it’s all so well put together and performed.
The guitars bite, the cutting solos interplay with the keys, the pumping rhythm section steer the ship and the vocals and harmonies are faultless. Touch do pomp, yes. And they rock too.
They also do prog here. Check out in particular the near eight minutes of Swan Song. A glorious proggy/symphonic suite pushing things up to eleven and beyond. Frozen Ground not dissimilar and another mini-epic progressive masterpiece.
In amongst the rest Touch show they can hit the hard stuff too. Lil Bit of Rock and Roll for example is a powerful number with a speedy riff that doesn’t let up. Let it Come has a h-u-g-e riff too which harks back to a certain song from the debut album.
Not a duff note anywhere throughout. A dozen superb tracks of glorious sublime, expertly composed and performed pompness which is such a pleasurable listen it’s irresistible.
Surprise comeback album of the year – quite possibly. Sure, it’s only the end of March and three quarters of 2021 left though it’ll take something remarkable to take the title from Touch.