After an agonising wait for my new UltraDrive CD to arrive, the postman finally delivered, and there it was: Believe!  As you all know, I like to start by considering an album’s cover; after all, the band created it for a reason, trying to convey a certain message.

The cover for Believe is simply stylish.  All black, with two silver-white elements.  The first of these is the band’s logo, UltraDrive.  The logo brings to mind the emblem of a racing car (and the ‘drive’ association in UltraDrive serves to reinforce the notion) and every attribute that goes with it:  fast, slick, well-oiled, highly tuned.  The album title, on the other hand, is presented in a font that evokes a sci-fi feeling; just ever so slightly out-of-this-world, unusual, eternal and big.  These, then, were my expectations for the album:  music that would be hard and fast, accomplished, edgy and grand.  And my, does UltraDrive deliver!

The opening track, Crush, is a fantastic hard-rock piece with anthem potential.  A powerful opening riff blows your mind, and the deep, dark vocals accompanied by a series of power-chords set the mood perfectly.  Crush is definitely one of my favourite tracks on this album; and possibly a candidate for my all-time greats!  The title track, Believe, opens with a tantalising guitar intro followed by rolling riffs and a rousing beat.  It has instant sing-along value and I adore the powerful contrast between the muted mike and the clear, loud chorus.  The final call of “I still believe” sounds almost outer-worldly and haunts you long after the track is finished.  A little quieter throughout, Shame brings you a fabulous drum intro, quiet but pacey, followed by a guitar theme that lodges right in your mind and refuses to leave!  Shame also features amazing two-part harmonies, and a great air-guitar moment for those of us (like me) who love to pretend.  Crazy, another one of my favourite songs, is more mellow in sound, almost ballad-like, and very lyrical.  

And the list of praise goes on.  I always listen out for great lyrics with goose-bump potential, and I am not disappointed here.  Consider From the Outside:  “Come on in from the outside…your life is waiting for you/just make your move and turn the page…”  or Drive:  “If you want to stay alive you’d better/drive!/only the hungry will survive…”  I love that about hard-rock in general, and these songs in particular; the positive message, the affirmative outlook:  get up and go, it’s all up to you.  On the other hand, there is Them Bones which has an entirely different feeling, a dark feeling evoking anger and, perhaps despair.  The drawn-out vocals and shouted, repeated “I” make the hair on the nape of my neck stand up.

So to me, Believe is a strong, accomplished, hard-hitting album with great, dark harmonies, powerful vocals and strong feelings.  I haven’t (yet) had the pleasure of seeing UltraDrive live on stage, but I am confident that they would fill, and thrill, a stadium!  This is fantastic arena rock and I highly recommend getting a copy if you like to rock out.
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