COH still have all the chops required to make a fantastic sounding Melodic Rock album.

Like most of you, I'd thought Change Of Heart had gone the way of the dinosaur. It's been twelve long years since Alan Clark and his cohorts have been around, but when you can come back after so long with such a glorious release as 'Last Tiger', that time just seems to melt away. Some of our readers will remember that COH played The Gods way back when, and those there that day witnessed a set that was so good, it saw many in attendance (who hadn't heard of the band before) running for the merchandise stand to buy their debut album. Upon hearing '...Tiger', I have to say it gave me the same joy I felt that day and each time I've played it since, the same thing has happened.

Musically, the songs are what you would expect from this act; highly melodic, full of harmonies and hooks with tracks charging at you like a rampaging rhino. With the inclusion of the albums producer Paul Hulme (Lawless) on guitars, the sonics of COH have been beefed up to the max and, simply put, this album Rocks big time! 'Only Tomorrow', the stonkingly good 'Wayward Son', 'Last Tiger', the mid-paced 'March Of The Souls', the energetic 'Rise To The Challenge' and the melody-tastic 'Touch Your Soul' are proof, if it were needed, that COH still have all the chops required to make a fantastic sounding Melodic Rock album.

However, as much as I love what COH do on the faster paced songs, for me where the band truly shine is on the ballads. 'Stone Cold', the semi-autobiographical 'Roads Of My Life', where Clark puts in his best vocal performance, and the beautiful 'Hold On To Love' show that COH are more than just your average, run-of-the-mill Melodic Rock act.

Twelve years is far too long for a band as good as this to have been away from the scene. So grab yourselves a copy of this fine release and in doing so, make sure that Change Of Heart continue to make great Rock music that we can all appreciate.

Ian Johnson