Vaduz – Better days

Vaduz take their name from the capital city of Liechtenstein.  A strange choice perhaps for a band whose members were all born and raised in Iowa, but apparently it’s a name they chose after seeing it in a travel brochure.  The band formed in 1987 and within a year or so had changed lineups to form the settled linuep.  In 1993 the band split and only reformed in late 2010.  At the end of 2011 they started work on a new album, and it’s now complete.  They raised the funds to record the album using kickstarter, which like Pledgemusic lets fans effectively pre-order the album and by doing so raise the money for the band to record it – a route more and more small bands are taking.

Not knowing Vaduz I had no idea what to expect when I put the CD on, and it didn’t take me long to realise this is an excellent album.  It’s got a great melodic rock sound which is likely to appeal to fans of bands including Dokken, Bon Joke, Black Crowes and Bad Company.

Brief comments on a few tracks…

“Workin’ band” gets the album off to a great start.  It’s got quite a strong early Bon Jovi feel – particularly in the vocals, and it’s a great rock song.

“Hey yeah” is a great track.  Opening with a nice bit of guitar it quickly turns into a briskly paced rock song that’s one of my favourites on the album

“Lowdown blues” is a great blues-rock track.  The guitar work really is impressive, and the keyboards work superbly well with the song too.  An excellent track.

A great melodic rock album without a single weak track.  Definitely worth a listen for all melodic rock fans.

Rating: 8/10

“Better days” is out now

Vaduz are:

Brian Wade – Vocals
Ringo Lee – Guitars
Jimmy Krio – Bass
Matt “Vinnie” Finn – Drums

Track listing:

1. Workin’ band
2. I saw the light again
3. Better days
4. Thy kingdom come
5. Hey yeah
6. Enemy
7. Faces in the storm
8. Lowdown blues
9. On my way