Forgive my ignorance, prior to this album landing on my doormat I’d only heard a couple of tracks by Jaded Heart. I must admit to knowing that Michael Bormann was the bands lead singer and main songwriter and I must aslo to thinking that the rest of the band had shot themselves in the foot when they sacked him! But I was WRONG again! Recruiting the former Scuido vocalist  Johan Fahlberg has proved an excellent move for the band as his vocals are a major plus here and moreover he does not sound at all like Jon Bon Jovi , which is something a certain Mr Bormann was oft accused of. 

The album opens up with a programmed intro that leads straight into a great up-tempo rocker 'Tomorrow Comes' that has a nod in the direction of Def Leppard in the riff department.  This is followed up by 'Hole In My Heart' which is not, as the title and intro might suggest, a ballad but rather in fact a cool mid tempo rocker. 'Somewhere' kicks off with a chanted intro and then borrows the riff to Danger Danger's Naughty Naughty' to good effect and then comes 'Dreams You'll Never See' which is simply a great rocker with a HUGE sound. 

Who's Fooling' sounds somewhat like 'Faith No More' might have sounded had they ever been AOR orientated and thus is accentuated by Johan Fahlberg vocals which certainly have a Mike Patton like influence at the start.  Next up is 'Paid My Dues', a song originally released by American songstress Anastacia, but in this form almost unrecognizable from the original and certainly a lesson in how to stamp your own identity on a cover song. It actually took me six or seven listens before I even noticed that it was a cover and my thanks go to Steve Price at ARFm for confirming my suspicions that it was by Anastasia. 

'Without You' is a cool power ballad and has great keyboard and guitar inter play, whilst 'Love & Desire' is driven along by big riff but does little for me! No One is a great little track and another  I swore blind I’d heard it before, but this time around was proved wrong.

Continuing on with the up-tempo tracks are 'Shores Of Paradise' that borrows the guitar intro from Night Ranger's 'Rumours In The Air' before turning into a great bombastic rocker and then the band serve up another excellent out and out rock song in the shape of 'Frozen Heart'  which fits  perfectly with  the rest of the album. Completing the album  is 'Love To Live' which proves to be a real riff fest and rounds things out a real high note.

With 'Helluva Time' Jaded Heart have  produced a great straight ahead rock album and one that us a must for all lovers of melodic hard rock and one that this reviewer simply loves

Let us know your views on 'Helluva Time'

Track List

Tomorrow Comes
Hole In My Heart
Somewhere
Dreams You'll Never See
Who's Foolin'
Paid My Dues
Without You
Love & Desire
No One
Shores Of Paradise
Frozen Heart
Love To Live

Line Up

Johan Fahlberg: Vocals
Barish Kepic: Guitar
xel Kruse: Drums
Michael Muller: Bass
Henning Wanner: Keyboards