• Band / Artist : Full Minute of Mercury
• Genre : Pop / Rock
• Sample Track Download : That Song (Is Stuck in My Head)
• Buy CD : Buy
• Buy Digital Download : Buy
• Rating : 8 out of 10

With my blonde long haired wig and air guitar, I approached my CD player with a mix of trepidation and nervous excitement. With an album cover very reminiscent of Iron Maiden, I was looking forward to some perforated ear drums and I wasn’t disappointed. The first track explodes out of the gate and boy is it loud. However once you finally hear some vocals for the first time on track two, it’s hard to slow down the somersaulting brain. This is an unusual album to be sure. Try to imagine if you will, a combination of Iron Maiden, the 1980’s and Hilary Duff and you will be somewhat closer to knowing what to expect. Please don’t take that as an insult, like it probably sounds. OK so maybe Hilary Duff is a bit too much to take, how about former Go-Go Berlinda Carlisle, does that make it anymore credible?

This is power pop at it’s purest and most energising. In fact the band describes their brand of music as 80’s core, progressive pop and sex metal. If that isn’t a description to be conjured with, I don’t know what is.

The album really begins to come into it’s own with track 4, That Song (is Stuck in My Head) and this is indeed the song that brought Full Minute of Mercury to my attention. It’s funy the more I listen to the album, the more I can imagine the music being used on a John Hughes film, like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles or Weird Science. I think this is a testament to the band as it’s no secret that they wallow in the bath that is the 80’s.

It’s not all headbanging hairdo heaven though. There are some more sedate songs on the album and they provide a nice breather from the frenetic pace of the rest of the album. Track 9, After You, see’s the band perform at a much gentler pace and it gives your ears a welcome break.

Conclusion : This is something out of the ordinary, but a breathe of fresh air none the less. With 19 songs, lasting nearly an hour, this is an album that is really going to give you a thorough work out.