Album Review: THE AMORETTES - Born To Break

01. Can You Feel The Fire
02. Hello And Goodbye
03. Everything I Learned I Learned From Rock And Roll
04. Born To Break
05. What Ever Gets You Through The Night
06. Hell Or High Water
07. You Still Got Rock And Roll
08. Easy Tiger
09. Bat Shit Crazy
10. Coming Up The Middle
11. High On Your Energy
12. I Want It Bad

The Amorettes is an all-female Hard Rock band from Scotland, and Born To Break is their fourth studio album. The trio consists of Gill Montgomery on vocals and guitar, Heather McKay on bass, and Hannah McKay on drums.

Listening to Born To Break was the first time I'd heard their music. It instantly reminded me of the UK Retro-Hard Rock bands from the early to mid nineties. There were a number of artists back then who were doing what was then a modern take on the Classic Rock sound, and had some chart success. I'm talking about bands like Thunder, Little Angels, Skin and fellow Scots Gun.

My ears haven't deserted me just yet, because after a little research I found out that Thunder's Luke Morley produced this album. No wonder the guitar tones are so similar. In fairness, it suits The Amorettes really well, and if there's a producer out there who knows this kind of music inside out, it's Luke Morley.

Born To Break is a straight forward Hard Rock album. Yes, it's quite generic and predictable, but The Amorettes do what they do very well. They have some great songs on here. Everything I Learned I Learned From Rock And Roll is, for me, the strongest track on the record. It's as catchy as it is anthemic, and if Joan Jett had released this song back in the 80's, it'd have sold a million copies. I have no doubt about that whatsoever.

Other personal favourites include Hell Or High Water which reminds me a bit of The Donnas, the Glam-tastic Easy Tiger, and the mercilessly cool album closer I Want It Bad.

I really enjoyed listening to Born To Break but it left me feeling that they lean too close to the world of nostalgia. There's a massive market for that, albeit mainly the over 40's latching onto anything that reminds them of their youth. I just think that with a slightly more modern approach and production, The Amorettes could appeal to a wider demographic than what I believe they currently do. Hugely successful bands like Halestorm and The Pretty Reckless have a retro thing going on but have ensured their longevity by tapping into that younger demographic. The Amorettes have the talent and the potential to do the same and I believe that their best is still yet to come.