Harem Scarem - Hope CD review

I have said it so many times, had Nirvana never hit the scene in the early 90’s, there is no telling how big these guys could have been – but let’s not dwell on what could have been, for Harem Scarem has been loved abroad: they're big in Japan, and in their home country of Canada, as well as having a good following in Europe – they even landed music in the TV show Degrassi High…not bad at all!

Even with the alternative rock dominating the charts and with the music changes over the past decade, the band still played great melodic rock, even when they might have jumped on the bandwagon at times (with releases such as Rubber and Voice of Reason), there was something about the harmonies, the sophisticated pop, and the lush melodies that always saved the music from being schlock.

Now, after twenty years, Harem Scarem is sadly packing it in and their final album, Hope, is the last will and testament from one of the finest melodic rock/AOR acts to ever hit the stage – in fact, the whole AOR/melodic rock genre seems to circulate around them (just like alternative circulated around R.E.M); everybody always compares other bands to Harem Scarem when talking about AOR.

They take the songwriting styles reminiscent of Jeff Paris and Paul Sabu, the harmonies of Queen and the Beatles, the pop prowess of John Waite and Bryan Adams, the arena rock stature of Journey and Bad English, and the hard rock/metal edge of Extreme, Def Leppard, and Giant – all of the best, you couldn’t ask for more.

On their final piece of melodic rock mastery, the only sign of the band actually letting up was the actual announcement that Hope would be their last – for this is a review that most of us wished we would never have to write. Following up Human Nature, Hope is a plethora of AOR mastery, possessing catchiness wherever you listen, tracks like “Time Bomb,” “Dark Times,” “Beyond Repair,” and the hard-grinding “Calm Before The Storm” see the band still executing their hard rock soul in full force, while more emotionally-laden cuts such as “Days Are Numbered,” “Shooting Star,” and the acoustic “Nothing Without You” (with lyrics that state “It’s Hard to Walk Away,”) stay within a more laid back/balladry approach where sadness is invoked in more ways than one, seeing that the band has hit the end of the road.

Even so, the album, through its eleven songs, feature the signature Harem Scarem sound, with the songwriting being top notch, solos here and there, harmonies being highly lush, and vocalist Harry Hess’ voice singing out at it’s finest – for which he has one of the most distinct voices in the rock world.

So as the band leaves us with their final Hope, we can look back and listen to a band that stood the test of time, shunned trends, and also fit in with them. Harem Scarem has a vast catalog of music, but most of it you will have to dig deep into the online import bins, which means a lot of it tends to be pricey. Nevertheless, listen to just about any release from this band and you will not be disappointed – and even with their disbandment, they will still reign as the kings of melodic rock and AOR. (Frontiers Records) – Review by Tommy "Hashman" Hash

(Click on the CD cover to buy Hope from Amazon.com)