This album  certainly has its moments.

Talon was born from the ashes of Voxen, a band that had some success with their release 'Sacrifice' which featured in the motion picture 'Outbreak' starring Dustin Hoffman. The band also backed Stan Bush at The Gods' festival and made an appearance at Firefest five to some acclaim, and then once again at Firefest 2011.

Now featuring new vocalist Shawn Pelata, also of Line of Fire, the band kick off in fine style with 'Crying To Me'. The vocals have a rough edge and despite the song's somewhat - shall we say basic - approach it still delivers in the strong chorus. Both Jim Kee's lead guitar and Kory Voxen's rhythm guitar supply a rock solid approach but 'Last Time' rarely seems to reach the heights you hope for and it all becomes a little predictable, to be honest.
Most of the songs are by no means bad but in melodic rock circles you make or break by the strength of your chorus, not to mention your vocalist's range of abilities.

Take 'Brothers' a nice stab at the southern style of rock that almost seems out of place among the melodic offerings of most of the songs. Shawn Pelata's vocals seem more suited to this style wheras it seems at times he is stretching his vocals to the limits to accommodate far to many of the songs.

The radio friendly 'Do You Have to Say' brought to mind Valentine and it is only the production on the vocals that lets the infectious chorus loose some of its sheen.

It is certainly worrying when one of your standout tracks 'Take You All The Way' features Jeff Scott Soto on vocals. The song stands head and shoulders above the other offerings and the smart guitar work and song structure do little else but reveal the shortcomings of the remaining tracks. That's not to say it's time to reach for the eject button, and 'Every time', for instance, with its fiery guitar work and cool harmonies certainly ticks all the right boxes as does 'When Will I' which is really rather reminiscent of the Two Fires debut release, with some strong vocal work and a chunky guitar riff making this song a winner in my book. Unfortunately the band then kind of shoot themselves in the foot by attempting a version of Jefferson Starship's 'Jane'. There is no way you can match the production or the dynamics of the original and it's a song best left alone in my opinion.

So, Talon 3 certainly has its moments and fans of the bands previous efforts will no doubt enjoy much of what is on offer, but I doubt this will really be the release to have the band rise above the competition.

Ray Paul