Last Act, The - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Year of Release: 2004
Label: independent
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 57:32:00

It is a tough job to come up with original music in this day and age. Still, some bands manage to present a fresh sounding album. The Canadian band The Last Act ended up in my CD player and offered just enough to stay there for some time. The four gents of The Last Act mentioned on their website to be inspired by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Kiss and this typical 80s hard rock sound is heard on their second album No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

Especially the melody lines and the vocals are very in the vein of Iron Maiden, although I did pick up some Sabbath influences. Fortunately, they do not come off as a Maiden-clone, more like a fresh version, as I was not overly impressed with their (Maiden's) last two albums. The Last Act has recorded the album independently and you can hear that in the production, which is not entirely spotless. But they bring their music with such enthusiasm, that I forgive them that.

Next to a fine rhythm section in the persons Stan Engelage and Shawn Speirs, and the somewhat Ozzy like singer Colin Murphy, guitarist Jeff Larsen stands out the most, with his solid riffs and great solos. But, honestly said, the music of The Last Act does not stand out. The album has a balanced sound, but the excellent play of the band make this a good album to listen to.

Still, a few songs deserve some extra attention: "Slave To The Memory" is like making a journey back in time, to the 70s ? with a nice crunch in the guitars and good bass play. And the last song, "Struggle," is definitely one of my favourites, because of the passion, that just drips off. The songs have a bit slower pace, but that adds to the dark atmosphere.

It is these albums that make it fun to discover new music. As far as I?m concerned, it does not all have to be as perfect as Dream Theater or Ayreon, as long as it is played with heart and soul and that is definitely the case with The Last Act. Not as original, but very good.

Tracklisting:
Intro / Broken Dawn / Full Volumage / Vision / Slave to the Nerve / The Memory / Rage / Guilded Justice / No Good Deed Goes Unpunished / What Are You Waiting For / Struggle

Musicians:
Colin Murphy - lead vocals
Stan Engelage - bass guitar
Shawn Speirs - drums, background vocals
Jeff Larsen - guitars, keyboards, background vocals

Discography:
The Last Act
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin CA

Added: January 17th 2005
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.thelastact.com
Hits: 2946
Language: english