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Victory: Fuel to the Fire
 Veteran German headbangers Victory get in on the trend of re-recording some of their most popular songs with Fuel to the Fire – the band's first album with its third singer in 21 years. Former Human Fortress throat Jioti Parcharidis brings a deeper and more aggressive tone to a dozen Victory tunes, some of them dating back to 1986's Don't Get Mad … Get Even. "Don't Tell No Lies," for example, sounds considerably different (and tougher) than the Fernando Garcia-sung version from 1989's Culture Killed the Native. On other tracks, though, such as "Temples of Gold" and "On the Loose," Parcharidis comes off more like an AOR hero, arguably giving Victory more musical flexibility than ever before. Of course, that's probably why the band attempted a project like Fuel to the Fire in the first place. By not only re-recording these songs with a new singer but also rearranging and remixing them, Victory has updated its sound to the point where it can compete with some of today's more accessible European heavy-metal bands, and it bodes well for Victory's future. (Apparently, a new studio song called "I Felt It Coming" is included on Fuel to the Fire, but it wasn't on the promo copy I received.) This is a huge a shift from the approach to Victory's last record, 2003's Instinct, which refused to acknowledge that the hard-rock/metal scene had changed since Billy Squier ruled the charts. File this one under "Welcome Back."
Track Listing:
1) Standing Like A Rock
2) Don't Tell No Lies
3) Take the Pace
4) Running Scared
5) Temples of Gold
6) Rock the Neighbours
7) Backseat Rider
8) Rock 'n' Roll Kids
9) Rebel Ready
10) On the Loose
11) Check's In the Mail
12) So They Run
Added: August 3rd 2007
Reviewer: Michael Popke
Score: 
Related Link: Official Victory Web Site
Hits: 3983
Language: english
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Victory: Fuel to the Fire
Posted by Scott Borre, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-08-03 07:23:21
My Score: 
Victory has never fallen on a top of the year list for me. So there is no way way that I can put this album on a pedestal, because it is a rerecording of old material. And this is also something I don't understand. Perhaps its a band thinking that they are more talented now, or better recording possibilities, and that their past work deserves to be better done. Fine. It does sound better than the older material. But, its still the old material that I just cannot get into. The music comes off as a cheaper version of AC/DC, and has all the party rock flavor of Van Halen. To me, the party rock/metal comes off as cheesier than euro power metal, and tends to have little emotional involvement on the part of the artists, and thus the listener. Admittedly, the first listen of this album I really enjoyed, because it does 'rock out.' But subsequent listens left a bad taste as there just wasn't much to hold onto. Sure the guitar playing of Herman Frank and Charlie Newton is as strong as ever, and if you are fans of their riffs and solos, then check it out.
But what I tend to believe when bands rerecord old material, is that its a combination of laziness and an interest in gaining money. There are few that bring the Frank Zappa mentality of perfection to their music anyhow, so I tend not to believe that people were unhappy with their drum sound and thus needed to spend little money and creativity power in recreating albums of old just to give their fans something else to buy.
But if you are a fan of Victory and didn't like the quality of their past recordings, this is definitely worth buying. And if you've heard of Victory, but never bought one of their albums, and want to, start here.
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Victory: Fuel to the Fire
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-10-12 09:08:04
My Score:
Guitarists Tommy Newton and Hermann Frank are all over Fuel to the Fire with their crunchy power chords and tasty metal solos. This is 80's styled European heavy metal, done with a modern flair, and there's a reason why it sounds this way. On the album, Victory have re-recorded some of their best tracks from the 80's and 90's, with modern production techniques and new singer Jioti Parcharidis (formerly of Human Fortress), who has a very strong voice and compliments these songs well. Songs like "Don't Tell No Lies", "Running Scared", "Temples of Gold", and "Backseat Rider" rock hard, with plenty of accessible metal riffs and solos, but also contain no shortage of catchy vocal hooks. So if your tastes run towards 80's styled metal with lots of commercial appeal, give Victory's Fuel to the Fire a chance, which will give you a glimpse of some of their better songs from their past, and get ready for a supposed new album in the works with Parcharidis. That should be something to look forward to.
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