By: Gail Worley
istening to Michael Staertow's self-released rock masterpiece, Oxygen, one question comes to mind which must be asked: Did the public lose its taste for melodic metal, or was it simply taken off the menu? Michael is a Rochester, NY based hard rock guitarist from the school of 80's song-based, guitar-driven metal bands like Def Leppard, Dokken and Steve Vai-era
Whitesnake. If such a statement conjures anything other than feelings of sweet nostalgia, you've lost touch with how much 80's metal rules. Staertow is also a singer/songwriter, who can actually sing and write songs (which, let's face it, is never a given). So you've got the best of everything here with great melodic, lyrical riffs all over his music, literate songs with
sing-along choruses and a tight backing band lending an arena rock feel to the whole package. Songs like "River of Sin" and "Hydrostatic" are pure Headbangers Ball heavy-duty rock, but Oxygen is no one-trick pony. "Promise" sounds like it could have been recorded by Cheap Trick, while the brief acoustic instrumental interlude, "0797" provides space to clear the sonic
palette. A favorite is the super catchy, sexy rocker, "Cry My Name," which showcases Michael's virtuoso blues-rock swagger to its fullest, and the chorus, "When I'm gone you'll cry my name," is just hot.
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