Album Review : The Treatment – Waiting For Good Luck

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

THE TREATMENT
Waiting For Good Luck
Released – April 9 2021

Waiting For Good Luck is the fifth full-length album from British hard rockers The Treatment, who have now cemented their position in the rock world in their own right, over the past 12 years and 4 previous album releases. Showcasing an intense sonic power only hinted at thus far, the band is truly firing on all cylinders now with the 2021 release.

A first listen reveals hulking riffs and memorable choruses in the mould of Airbourne, but with some bluesier rock tones with an Aerosmith swagger, some Thin Lizzy-esque twin-guitar harmonies, Def Leppard vocals, and a couple of tracks that provide evidence of a really deep and technical heavy melodic rock pedigree.

Produced by UK rock maestro Laurie Mansworth (More and Airrace) and mixed by Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Black Country Communion), Waiting for Good Luck is The Treatment’s second album featuring Tom Rampton on vocals and the first one with the new bass player Andy Milburn joining long-time drummer Dhani Mansworth and guitar-slinging brothers Tao and Tagore Grey, with Tao also picking up bass duties on the record.

The album opens with the first single, Rat Race, which has the trademark riffs, solid bass and drums, some Hysteria-like backing vocals to add to the melody. Tom Rampton has settled well into the lead vocal position and brings both tone and power mixed with the gravel and grit when needed. Take It Or Leave It is more of the same with a dash of swagger, and some slick guitar work, maintaining a pumping energy from start to finish.

There is even more of a groove to Lightning In A Bottle that really stands out, and shows a subtler variation from the straight-ahead rock the boys are best known for – this is British blues-rock at its very best, with a real hook of a riff, short sharp guitar solos, and top-notch vocals. The accelerator gets dropped with Vampress, which just lets rip from the get-go, and will have the heads rocking and hair flailing in the pit in the 2022 festival season.

That blues-rock vibe returns with Eyes On You which is right up there in terms of melody, and Tom nails the vocals in a slightly lower range than normal. The first guitar solo is a ripper too, with a classic twin lead harmony at the end of it, and then after another chorus, we get another beautiful little solo to close. Straight-up 12 bar boogie from the old-school Quo songbook is up next with No Way Home, but while that riff really does have the Quo feel, the track itself is classic Treatment material, and the middle-eight adds a touch of rawness that really fits.

Devil In The Detail is much more complex, and has a really melodic pre-chorus both with the intricate guitar picking and the vocals, that leads into a slightly menacing chorus harmony – the sort of thing that would not be out of place on the more recent Winger albums in terms of guitar sound and harmonies. This is a real stand-out track that I know will keep growing with more listens. Another slice of subtlety in the stripped-back blues rock of the intro to Tough Kid before the solid riff kicks in – only to give way to a verse that is all sparseness and melody, and with really good vocals again which set this apart from any simplistic comparisons to AC/DC and the like.

The album kicked off with a blur of three crackers, and the home stretch almost runs to four, with Hold Fire pulling no punches with a flat-out dive through the corridors of good-time rock’n’roll that would do the O’Keefe boys proud. Tom uses his voice perfectly to fit the raucous tone of the track, while Dhani powers away behind the kit, and both guitarist enjoy some time in the spotlight – this will be an absolute smash live! The odd one out on the record in my opinion is Barman, which is a boisterous honky-tonk blues rocker which you know will be fun onstage, but does not quite deliver in the way the rest of the album does – it doesn’t really sound like The Treatment and seems a bit out of place. Maybe a cracker as an extra track on a B-side?

We slide back into the groove with the excellent Lets Make Money which has real balls in the riffing, and sees Tom blast out the lead vocals, with loads of backing harmonies that add the extra depth to the track. A discordant solo fits the moody tone of the riff perfectly, and the production values really come to the fore here in the slightly deeper tone, and the guitar lick to the close is a ripper. Wrong Way opens in style, and combines the power and energy of the band with another slice of melodic rock heaven – putting in a late charge for track of the album.

While the band has seen more than their fair share of line-up changes in the past, they have been able, perhaps through the excellent ear of Laurie Mansworth as a key influence from Day 1, to maintain a sound that is unmistakably The Treatment – and this record is certainly true to that sound, while adding some extra flourishes and depth of musical quality that really delivers and builds on their solid track record.

Single Releases from the new album.