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TNT > Intuition > Reviews
TNT - Intuition

Following an album that cannot be followed… - 78%

Rael, March 8th, 2011

Coming off the extraordinary ‘Tell No Tales,’ I remember being let down with ‘Intuition,’ not giving it much time in 1989. Over the years my tastes have gotten friendlier toward extremely polished, pop-infused metal and rock. So I like ‘Intuition’ more than I used to, but it still has pitfalls I’ll probably never get over. This is a more careful album than TNT’s previous two -- less fiery, less edgy, and as a result there is something essential sacrificed in the band’s obvious bid for MTV viewers’ hearts and the rest of the hairsprayed/stonewashed denim universe of 1989.

First, the stuff that irks: the chorus of “Intuition” is incredibly saccharine, even for my melodic metal sweet tooth. Seriously frilly stuff here, but Le Tekro’s Brian May-esque guitar work lifts the song up a few big notches. The verses are pure TNT awesomeness, everyone firing away nicely and with purpose. But some songs fail to inspire, even after two decades of living with the album. I still don’t have much feeling for songs like “Take Me Down (Fallen Angel),” “End of the Line,” and the so-candied-it-makes-Journey-sound-like-Cannibal-Corpse AOR of “Learn to Love.” These songs comprise the vanilla-quotient of ‘Intuition,’ lacking the fire and urgency that exploded all over their preceding album. Yet again --- and this is always the case with the band – even inferior TNT songs feature stellar vocals and guitar work, so the weaker spots on ‘Intuition’ succeed on some level.

Between the bland offerings and the album’s high points sits “Ordinary Lover.” I’m usually all for expanding an album’s depth with weird segues, unusual interludes and/or brief nutty moments (as they did on ‘Tell No Tales’), but this Le Tekro-sung track is like a big bruise on the leg of a beautiful model. At a brief 53 seconds, in can be tolerated rather than skipped over. Enough said about that already.

The good stuff on this album is frighteningly good. The majestic intro “A Nation Free” retains the band’s inescapable Nordic flavor, and then it’s into the more cosmopolitan “Caught Between the Tigers.” This song breaks down the door with a swagger and pomp that shows Harnell wielding considerable presence while leaving plenty of room for Le Tekro’s flashy fireworks. The drums are big (handled by new drummer Kenneth Odiin, or a drum machine sounds like) and bright ‘80s synths throw paint slashes in and out of the song. Middle of the album brings “Forever Shine On,” assuring TNT is still a metal band, if a very slick one. It could have easily fit on ‘Tell No Tales’ amongst that album’s more metallic songs. “Forever Shine On” is elegant Euro power metal that manages a kind of symphonic majesty, thanks to multi-tracked supporting vocals, Le Tekro’s carefully orchestrated approach, and the bigger-than-God production.

The album’s strong points come at the beginning, middle and end, with the aforementioned lackluster songs sandwiched between those points. Final track “Wisdom” couldn’t have been placed anywhere else on the album. I’ve read the criticisms of “Wisdom” below and have to disagree. This track may be a linear, floating, even repetitive composition, but it’s not so much a ballad as much as it is a grandiose, atmospheric production piece. The layering and stacking of the music and vocals transform it from mere song to pure magic. Yet again I get a chance to hold Tony Harnell up as one of the greatest vocalists of our time, and his control and charisma throughout “Wisdom” place the song into the considerable handful of songs that display the man at his absolute best. A stunning performance. The album is worth buying for this track alone.

‘Intuition’ has some serious cold spots, points where it’s stretched to the commercial/slick limit. This is mostly a production issue, and sometimes the production, as on “Wisdom,” is a total advantage. The songs are mostly solid, and even the ultra-melodic ones, like “Learn to Love,” have an undeniable charm. I will not argue with the piles of lush, multi-tracked Harnell voices in the choruses, because for this Harnell fanboy that’s a great place to be. I’ve found this album improving with age, waiting for my own evolution as a listener to catch up to it. I can accept the production style more than I did in 1989, and find its sugary sweetness not nearly as off-putting as it used to be. ‘Intuition’ is a must for any TNT fan, and any melodic metal aficionado, but it’s still an album that brings a few caveats along with it.

Two classics in a row! - 95%

IWP, August 19th, 2008

Damn! This band certainly doesn't fail to deliver. Tell No Tales was an underrated 80s glam classic, and is worthy of repeated listens. Two years later, TNT releases this album, Intuition, and while this album isn't as great as their last album (it's hard to top a classic), it's still quite an amazing album for what it is, 80s glam/hard rock. As I've said before, if you can't tolerate this stuff, then stay away, but if you're like me, and can't get enough of those catchy hooks mixed with amazing guitar work, then this album is a mandatory clasic to add to your collection.

Just like the last album, the guitar work is awesome. The solos are nothing short of amazing, and the riffs are pretty damn catchy. Tony's voice is once again amazing as well, he has huge vocal range, and he has so much emotion. The drums are pretty simple for the most part, but for the style of music, it works. There is also pleanty of keyboard and synth parts in most of the songs which were typical in the era, but make these songs that much better.

The best songs on here would have to be Tonight I'm Fallen, Learn to Love, the ballad, End of the Line, and of course the title track. The first two mentioned are great songs that are very catchy, especially the choruses. They kind of remind me of Bon Jovi at times. End of the Line is an amazing ballad that kind of reminds me of Sonata Arctica's The Misery in that it's very emotional and sad. It sets a mood which is what makes it a great song.

However, nothing on here even compares to the title track. This song is absolutely amazing! From the beginning of the song when the riff kicks in, I was hooked to it instantly. This has to be one of the catchiest and happiest songs I've ever heard. I feel so good when I'm listening to it. This is my favorite TNT song, and probably one of my favorite 80s glam songs of all time. Nope, they certainly don't make 'em like this anymore. This song shines of beauty, and it rocks too, which is what matters.

However, two songs keep this album from being in league with their last album. That is Wisdom and the incredibly stupid, Ordinary Lover. Wisdom is kind of a watered down version of End of the Line as it's a ballad that lacks the emotion that the last mentioned song has. Ordinary Lover is just a stupid interlude. It's pretty pointless to have this song on here, and I'm not even deducting points off of this album's score, because I don't even count it as a song.

For the most part, this is straight up amazing 80s glam rock. While it's not as great as Tell No Tales, it's still a very awesome album, and it's alot better than your avarage glam album. If you call yourself a true fan of glam metal, then do yourself a favor and get this and Tell No Tales. Buy them, download them, whatever. Just make sure you get these two albums. You'll thank me later. ;) However, I really wouldn't recommend this to fans of extreme metal, as you may not like the sugary sweet choruses, and keyboard/synth work. Nonetheless, if you like Bon Jovi, Europe, or even Sonata Arctica, then you'll love this!

Tonight I'm falling for you... - 76%

Bloodstone, July 11th, 2007

You may think Norway is all about black metal, Pagan's Mind and that David Coverdale sound-alike who keeps popping up in all these bands, but in the 80's, above ground it was all about TNT. Okay, so this may not have all that much to do with actual heavy metal, as this 1989 release finds the band straying even further from the early power metal sounds of 1984's Knights of the New Thunder (check out the song "Seven Seas" on YouTube, it's like later Nocturnal Rites 18 years before!) than on 1987's Tell No Tales, their semi-breakthrough in America which scored them a hit in "10,000 Lovers (In One)". Yes, this album is utter glam rock, of the most poppy kind imaginable. If you're not into that, then stay the fuck away. However, for those like me who think Europe is the greatest thing ever to come out of Sweden and that Turbo is among the top five Judas Priest albums, Intuition is quite the treat. Well, at times, anyway.

The sound here is very much on the light and melodic side even for pop-metal; a pretty far cry from the straightforward, heavy and driving riffs of Mötley Crüe and Ratt, for sure. Instead, it's aimed at being progressive and intricate, while still filled to the brim with catchy hooks. Overall, this album reminds me mostly of the first couple of Winger albums (with hints of Europe and Dokken as well); it has similarly swift, flashy and prog-tinged guitar work (both rhythm and lead), combined with conventional song structures, glossy choruses and generally very slick and commercial songwriting. Oh yes, and with plenty of keyboarding. As said in an AMG review, not far removed from what Asia or 90125-era Yes ("Owner of a Lonely Heart") would sound like if they were hair metal bands. American vocalist Tony Harnell must be given special mention, as his vocals are probably the first thing you'll notice when spinning this for the first time - they're EXTREMELY high-pitched and almost up there with Nitro's Jim Gillette. To quote a song title off of here, his voice is just something you "Learn to Love" - at least to me he seemed a bit off at first, but he does bring a great deal of power, charisma and sheer emotion to the table, and subsequently he's grown on me with time. On a sidenote, isn't it funny how TNT has a nationality-wise exact opposite line-up of that of Kamelot? Norwegian band with American vocalist vs. American band with Norwegian vocalist...oh well, I digress.

Now even though this here is a sound I love, I have to say this album suffers BADLY from inconsistency - the difference in quality between the best and the worst stuff on here is nothing short of astronomical. There are a couple of songs here that are positively amazing and some of the best stuff late 80's/early 90's hair metal has to offer, but on the other end of the spectrum...oh boy, not a pretty sight. Let's tackle the songs by descending order and start with the best: first off, "Tonight I'm Falling". Little mellow intro and then...ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the ship of Captain motherfucking HOOK!! I don't care how blatantly simple it is (as my nay-saying friend keeps commenting), this combination of four-chord rhythm guitar and three-note semi-acoustic guitar may very well be the catchiest piece of music I've ever heard in my life. The song as whole is of nearly the same quality and is best described as a rather up-tempo semi-ballad in the vein of Def Leppard's "Hysteria". Next up, the title track, and again, the hooks are absolutely huge and present right from the beginning. Bow to that awesome, happy Van Halen-like opening riff...man, I had an absolute blast hearing the band perform this song at the 2004 Sweden Rock Festival, at which point I'd never heard them before, but that didn't stop me from singing along the chorus already by the second time it came on.

Then the almost as good..."Take Me Down (Fallen Angel)" is like a combination of the two aforementioned best songs, having the semi-balladic nature of "Tonight I'm Falling", while at the same time being fueled by a catchy main riff like the title track. Very much in the vein of Dokken, but also packed with cheap and lovely 80's synth effects and the chorus absolutely soars ala Crimson Glory's Midnight. "Forever Shine On" is a bit lacking in hooks, but features some nice heavy and metal-slanted riffs and the most insanely over the top screaming chorus on the album ("FOOOOOOOREEEEEVEEEEEER!!!" Hell yes!). The lite-hard rock production doesn't really do the song justice though; it would be nice to hear it covered by a metal band, although it'd take quite the vocalist to match the chorus.

Then some rather middle-of-the-road stuff. "Caught Between the Tigers" has a "funky" feel to it reminiscent of Extreme, the main difference being that Extreme fucking RULE and this song does not quite. Nice chorus, but the song as whole fails to establish a good sense of groove and the fact that it was picked as the album opener truly boggles my mind. "Learn to Love" is a kind of boring filler track in the style of Winger - yes, Winger has plenty of those too for every "Seventeen" and "Easy Come, Easy Go" they manage to write (not to mention "Junkyard Dog" of course; just sticking to their more well-known songs is all). Not exactly bad and at least sorta catchy, but nothing to write home about.

And now for the pretty frickin' horrible, or to quote fellow reviewer radiohater in his review for St. Anger, Raw Sewage Contaminated With Lead, Arsenic and Cyanide. "End of the Line" - first, I'd like to point out that the Kamelot song "Forever", one of their most popular ones, is a TOTAL rip off from this song at 02:49. As I mentioned earlier, Kamelot vocalist Roy Kahn is Norwegian and probably listened to TNT a great deal in his younger days. Listen for yourself, the resemblance is simpy uncanny - however, in this song said part only lasts for a few seconds, the rest of it is pure garbage. Completely generic going-through-the-motions balladry without anything catchy, gripping or interesting about it whatsoever. "Ordinary Lover" - obvious joke song at a mere length of 00:53. It's not funny in the least bit though and serves only to corrupt the album's flow considerably. The intro, "A Nation Free" - awkward and pretentious crap, cheesy in a really bad way. I suppose tolerable since it's after all just a short intro, though; "Wisdom", on the other hand, is basically the same thing for FIVE minutes. Nothing even remotely enjoyable going on in this one whatsoever, and by the way, this is the one instance on the album where I've NOT come to like the vocals with time. Here, they're too damn screechy, over the top and drawn out for their own good, and the whole thing just really grates on your ears.

Concerning the final rating, well it took some serious contemplating. With music as commercial and hit-oriented as this, of course some inconsistency is to be expected, but this I have to say is one of the most extreme cases of it. Again, the highlights are absolutely sky high and make it overall worthwhile, but it's certainly not an album I'll play through all the way very often. However, considering the countless times I've played some of the songs on here and the fact that I'm a total sucker for this sound and style in general, I still gotta let it sneak away with a solid score of 76. In closing, recommended for those who "Can't Get Enuff" of cheesy 80's hair metal with lots of keyboards in it. If you get my drift.