Classless Act - Welcome To The Show

Album review by; Kayleigh

Debut album 'Welcome To The Show' from Classless Act is one that feels aptly named. The group who met through social media have created a project that even just when listening to the songs at home you can feel like you are experiencing the energy and honesty of a live show.

Classless Act definitely have this hard rock, glam metal sound of the past which is helped on the album with features from artists such as Vince Neil of Motley Crue and Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, but this isn't to say that Classless Act are just copycats or solely a nostalgia band the quintet throw in a healthy dose of their own modern edge to their songs creating something that is entirely their own.

The self-titled opener 'Classless Act' and following track 'This Is For You' very much feel like you're transported back to the era of glam metal and it isn't until third song 'Time To Bleed' that I thought I could really start to hear the sound that is Classless Act. 'Time To Bleed' is easily a personal favourite on 'Welcome To The Show' for me and listening to tracks like this it's no wonder that the group were chosen to join Def Leppard and Motley Crue for their stadium tour. 'Time To Bleed' just feels like a stadium filler and in my opinion keeps the nostalgia factor while also containing guitar lines that have a modern edge.

'On My Phone' is another song on 'Welcome To The Show' that reminds you that this isn't some band from the 80's and these guys are very much in the present, this is a song about social media and the very modern feeling that we live on our phones. I personally found it quite funny to be listening to this track that feels like one from the past but lyrically it's so true to today. However, around the 2:30 mark we get even further reminded that this is a band of our time as the soaring hard rock guitar fills your ears showing off that these guys really are talented all round.

Classless Act also give the listener tracks such as 'Made In Hell' and 'Haunting Love' which feel more pop rock in sound. Both of these songs are super fun and make you want to get up and dance along. 'Made In Hell' has this punchy bassline that I personally found it impossible not to groove along with. Then 'Haunting Love' feels to me like something that I would easily hear on any popular radio station with an almost boy band type quality in the lyrically catchy chorus proving that Classless Act could be a band that really anyone could enjoy.

A personal favourite of mine on 'Welcome To The Show' is 'Walking Contradiction' with its Muse like fuzz, soaring vocals and heavy guitars that feel more like something you would hear from artists such as Royal Blood I completely fell in love with this song. I feel like Classless Act threw everything in here and have in one song proved how they stand out against the crowd.

I can't finish talking about this album without mentioning the closing track 'Thoughts From A Dying Man'. This emotional end is this almost Queen like ballad which really shows off the vocal talents of front man Derek Day. This song grows and grows into something punchy and flamboyant but never loses that emotional tone making it a really great song and, in my opinion, the perfect song to end the show on.

Classless Act may have only formed in 2019 but they are already gaining a decent fan base and rightly so. 'Welcome To The Show' is an easy one to love for modern hard rock lovers, pop rock lover or anyone looking for an older sound. I just hope they can keep up this energy in their song writing and they haven't shown everything they've got all at once because these guys could be one of the more interesting and exciting bands of our time.

4.5 out of 5

Tracklist;

01. Classless Act (feat, Vince Neil of Motley Crue)

02. This Is For You (feat. Justin Hawkins of The Darkness)

03. Time To Bleed

04. On My Phone

05. All That We Are

06. Made In Hell

07. Storm Before The Calm

08. Haunting Love

09. Walking Contradiction

10. Give It To Me