Eighties-style Melodic Hard Rock is alive and kickin’ all over the planet. It may be an underground or a ‘niche business’ genre now, but still with fervent musicians and fans praising this kind of rock music.
Here’s an example from Peru, South America; MEAN STREET, and their debut album “Never Too Late“. Yes, its title references them taking a long time to release a debut album after forming 2016. The guys released some singles, performed support slots for FM, Mike Vescera, Joe Lynn Turner, and others, and experienced line up changes.
Finally MEAN STREET started working on their debut CD a couple of years ago, the took time to polish things and get a proper record deal, now crystallized with Scandinavian company Good Time Music releasing “Never Too Late”.
The band mention as influences the ‘80s melodic hard rock sound of of Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Slaughter, Survivor, Van Halen, etc. And that’s what you get with “Never Too Late”, an 8-tracker with no weak songs in sight. Good things, when short, are twice as good.
“Never Too Late” combines melodic hard rockers such as ‘Love Will Bring You Down’, the anthemic ‘Lookin’ for Somethin”, or ‘Burning’, with midtempo AOR tunes in ‘I’ll Take the Blame’ and ‘For so Long’, all well arranged, with lots of harmony vocals on the choruses, biting guitars and the right amount of keys. The band’s overall sound brings to mind WILD ROSE, and that’s a good thing.
Sonically, ”Never Too Late” sounds awesome for a self-produced record, without expert cats from the era or current Scandi Rock producers behind the desk. Musically everyone brought their A-game and it’s obvious that these guys love this style of music – the songs are carefully arranged & mixed.
Frontman & gutarist Darío Rovig and guitarist Bruno Barboza did their homework and studied ‘80s guitar gods such as Eddie Van Halen, Richie Sambora, John Sykes, and Neal Schon. Additionally, we love Rovig’s voice color, some kind of Ted Poley meets Vince Neil.
“Never Too Late” delivers really well crafted ‘80s hard rock / AOR made with passion, an entertaining record that makes listeners forget their troubles for 41 minutes.
Highly Recommended
1. Love Will Bring You Down (05:32)
2. Strange Kind of Love (05:02)
3. I'll Take the Blame (04:37)
4. Lookin' for Somethin' (05:33)
5. Set Me Free (04:59)
6. For so Long (06:25)
7. Risky Game (04:42)
8. Burning (04:22)
MEAN STREET – Never Too Late (2025)
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