Grand Ultra - No Sympathy

Grand Ultra are a four piece hard rock band from the east midlands who have over the last few years been wowing audiences with their live performances. So by late 2012 an astonishing four years after their inception Grand Ultra have finally released their debut CD, the six track ‘No Sympathy’.

For the diehard fans who have followed them from the beginning this disc rewards them with six favourites from the live set, unlike most bands though Grand Ultra haven’t mucked about too much with the studio recordings which means this CD is totally recognisable to what you would hear at a live show, something not all bands manage to achieve. Track one the eponymous  ‘No Sympathy’ is a fine overture of what’s to come the song rattles along at pace and sets the scene for the other five tracks. Tracks two and three are my personal favourites of the disc, ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ is a great sing along song with punchy riffs where as ‘Get your Rocks Off’ is an anthemic number designed to get a live crowd up and rockin’. Grand Ultra are Stu Wildey (Bass) Gazz Evans (Drums) Justin Larner (Guitar) and Joe Hill (Vox) their overall sound is driven by Justin’s well crafter guitar riffs and Joe’s powerful ‘old school’ vocal gymnastics, he’s a bit like a latter-day Klaus Meine. Track four is ‘Guns At Dawn’ my least favourite track, followed by ‘Alone Tonight’ which is a lighter song that may well appeal more to the ladies. The finale to this disc is one of the bands most memorable songs, ‘Goodbye Angel’ is a favourite from the live set and with its sing-along chorus and punchy riffs is a fitting end to the CD. Grand Ultra never fail to entertain live and ‘No Sympathy’ is a fitting debut disc for the hard working quartet who thankfully haven’t strayed too far from their live sound on this mini LP. I would highly recommend you acquired a copy time you se them, let’s hope that the follow-up CD is in the pipeline… GD.