Rain was formed in 1980 and has been working hard to become a well-known metal band in Italy to this date. Now, a band has to have a name. But why does it have to be Rain? Oh, man… I can feel it coming. Do I even need to hear this record to know what it sounds like?

One look at the track list learns that Rain is a pretty straightforward band. Lyrically, they have simple messages that are coated with an eighties’ heavy metal crust. The lid fits the jar, because the music sounds like <insert random 80’s band here>. Obviously, these guys aren’t doing anything original. But are they doing a bad job? No, they’re not doing a bad job. They’re actually doing a quite decent job. The production is very good, there’s head-bang material, Francesco’s vocals sound very sturdy and the melodies are really accessible.

Yet, I can’t escape the feeling that all the songs sound more or less the same, with minimal vocal diversion. The lead guitars seem to focus on simple rock n’ roll licks and never get too impressive or even wild. A track like ‘Rain Are Us’ did have an interesting vocal progression in the shape of a looping verse with lead vocals thrown in between. The leads are faster and do show that Rain are definitely capable of some decent shredding while staying melodic at the same time. Also, ‘Blind Fury’ starts out a little faster than the rest, but other than that can’t really crank things up a lot. The cheesy ‘ooh, oooh-hoooo’ sing-along intermezzo - ‘Maiden-style’ - is the drop that floods the bucket. Next!

I wasn’t dad-impressed with this record (notice the pun, har har har) and a biography that says ‘one of the most genuine bands of the earth’ doesn’t really add to the enthusiasm. Genuine, generic… I guess it comes down to your fondness of bands from the eighties that haven’t really evolved over time. If that’s your poison, you should check Dad Is Dead out sometime. But there’s no rush, the album will still sound the same after the ones on top of your priority list.