---

Allen Lande is like bon Jovi; they rock! on occasion. The titular track, The Showdown, is a pretty energetic exercise in awesome heavy metal. With thumping guitars, deep bass and a great vocal performances and an almost dreamy air to it. And I wish they could have held that energy throughout the entire album.

But where this album is really strong, is in the ballad section. Deep sweeping tracks presided over by solid vocal performances. The track "Never Again" might just be the perfect breakup song (aside from two out of three by Meat Loaf of course). Personally, this reviewer would have loved some more songs with a bit of a kick to them, as the production, style and vocalists fit perfectly for that sort of thing. Except The Showdown, that is just a kickass cut.

---