Uncle Sid-"Rock In The Universe" Ass kickin` Hard Rock from The great White North! Canada´s Uncle Sid have been plying their trade for over 10 years, that being traditional late `70s`/early `80s` inflected Hard Rock; HARDLY the mainstream`s Flavor Of The Month during those years. But such dogged determination in the face of desperate odds is what this kind of music was founded on! In better musical times, "Rock In The Universe" would have soared up the charts. Unfortunately, traits like melody, harmony, songwriting and feel are of no interest to today`s kOrN-fed kiddies. Damn shame, `cause Uncle Sid has a lot to offer! Sure, there ain`t much in the way of groundbreaking material to be found, but these guys play it with such panache, you can forgive `em! The band is Wolf on vocals, Henry Seto on guitar and bass and Dale Salive, drums. [Keyboards were supplied by Craig Zurba] The album is a raw, straight up, no frills production; no fancy-schmancy hi tech afffair, just a bunch of guys turnin` up and Rockin` out. From the opener "Break´n Free" to the balls-out "Dance For Me", as well as the seventies-style Metal of "Dream Machine", it`s quite obvious that Uncle Sid means business! To be honest, the less-than-original approach to the tunes is rather refreshing in light of all the phoney, down-tuned, dorm-room superstars currently peddling their poison wares to the masses! The winner for me is "The Story", a classy, almost UFO-like track that displays all the great qualities of this band. A future classic, to be sure. Listening to this album has given me new hope for the North American Hard Rock scene; maybe soon we`ll be spared having to hear the words "Canadian Rocker" and "Avirl Levinge" in the same sentence! Thumbs up!! [Many, many thanks to Wolf for sending me the disc!] West Side Dave - New York http://members.tripod.com/~WestSideDave/Reviewsindexpage-3.html http://www.unclesid.com