Wild Side – Speed Devil (2010)
Norwegian rockers Wild Side are back with a new guitarist, singer, and a CD that is sure to please fans of 80’s era hard rock. After a bizarre but short intro “Paranoia Circus” the band blasts into the hard rockin’ “Live Forever”. On “Live Forever” I immediately noticed the similarities in style between singer Joachim Berntsen and Motley Crue front man Vince Neil. Wild Side’s music is slightly heavier than modern-day Motley Crue, but Bernsten sounds as if he could be Vince’s little brother. His vocals are THAT similar.The guitar duo of Jon Aarseth & Tom Grana impressed me immediately. The solos on this song have to be heard to be believed. Aarseth’s playing reminds me of a young George Lynch. Very cool!
The opening whine of the guitars on on “Mine Tonight” reminds me a lot of early Stryper. This is a mid tempo number that is greatly enhanced by the excellent guitar work. This easily could have been an old Motley Crue track. I love it!
These aren’t the only stand out tunes either. “Need To Deliver”, “Wild One”, “Eagle” and the title track “Speed Devil” all rock hard!
Wild Side slows the pace down a little bit with the mid tempo song “Devil in Disguise”. This song shows me that the band can slow it down and still sound great without falling into that dreadful power ballad trap. Without surprise, a ballad does turn up later with the song “Love For You”. It is a surprisingly good song, with some good acoustic guitar work. I imagine that this song has to make folks break out the Zippo lighters during Wild Side’s live set.
Overall, I enjoyed Wild Side’s Speed Devil quite a bit, and believe it or not, I liked it better than Vince Neil’s latest affair, Tattoos & Tequila. Wild Side’s sound might not be completely original, but at least they are cranking out cool new hard rock and keeping the best era of rock alive and well! The guitar playing on this disc is excellent, and I bet fans of classic hard rock are going to love this. I know I did!
For more information on Wild Side, check out the band’s myspace page. You can find Wild Side’s Speed Devil for sale at this link. Check it out!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Paranoia Circus
2. Live Forever
3. Mine Tonight
4. Play With Me
5. Need to Deliver
6. Wild One
7. Eagle
8. Wont Let Go
9. Devil In Disguise
10. I Will Always Be Me
11. Love For You
12. Speed Devil
Wild Side is:
Joachim Berntsen – Vocals
Jon Aarseth – Guitars
Tom Grana – Guitars
Stian Stensrud – Bass
Ronnia Arntzen – Drums
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Nope, not the same band, but if you liked the original Wildside, you will probably like this band too.
wait, this isn’t the same band!!!! man!!!!!!!!!!!!!
finally! some good news! i loved this band and still listen to “under the influence” one of the best cd’s put out in the 80’s era.
i can’t wait to hear this one!