Rage – Wings Of Rage

6/10

Listening to Wings Of Rage, I didn’t feel much of anything at first. Sure, it was Rage and I guess it was okay, but no songs stuck out and it didn’t feel special in any way. Listening to it a little bit more, it started to grow on a little, and turned out quite okay. There are some really good stuff here like Tomorrow, Wings Of Rage and Shine A Light. But as a whole, it’s starting to feel a little like the band after so many years of vitality, is running out of fresh ideas. It’s still okay, but I had hoped for more from a band that for so many years has given me close to no disapointments. Hopefully, this is just a temporary dip, and they will rise again soon.

I can’t say this for sure, but I have a feeling that the absence of long time member Victor Smolski plays a part in all this. Since his departure in 2015, the idea of Rage as an experimental act has gone down the drain and Peavy Wagner seems to only be interested in making classic metal. Sure enough I love that too, but the magic of Rage was in many ways the middle ground, the compromise that led the way for Peavys old school classic metal touches and Smolskis (and also his predecessors like Matti Schmitd) great sense of freshness and new ideas. I wouldn’t want either one of them to set the rules completely, and now that seems to be the case.

Well anyway, Wings Of Rage is quite okay. But there are so many, many better Rage albums out there. If you’re not familiar with them I highly recommend you to start with those classics instead of this.