These guys are great, always have been. Wish they performed more often around home.
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Make no mistake about it: Hybrid Ice plays the kind of classic, over-the-top arena rock whose heyday was decades ago. That said, their mastery of the genre, and the winning combination of great songs with brilliantly-executed performances, make their new CD, "Mind’s Eye,” one for the ages. Boasting the kind of chops & muscle one associates with Boston, Foreigner, Styx and Journey (to name a few), “Mind’s Eye” packs the kind of hooks & musicianship to make 21st century standards of rockers like CD-opener “Fight Another Day,” or the powerful “Stop Searching.” On the original power ballad front, the band delivers the goods with flair & expertise on “Sadder Day Morn” and “Only the Lonely.” No song better sums up Hybrid Ice’s return-to-glory story, though, than “Worth the Wait;” with its hooks-laden chorus & soaring harmonies, it’s as good as any of Boston’s greatest hits. Although “Mind’s Eye” is only Hybrid Ice’s 3rd album (their 1st was in 1982), one can’t help but be amazed that these guys never broke through to national prominence. Their vocals, musicianship, arrangements, production and not least, rock ‘n’ roll passion, are not only dead-on, they’re genre-defining. But as bands like Nickelback lead the classic rock parade in the new millennium, Hybrid Ice’s “Mind’s Eye” CD need take no back seat when it comes to timeless & compelling rock albums.
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Their best album yet!! The songwriting is fantastic & the harmonies are just what Ice fans have come to expect.  Excellent.
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After waiting 22 years we’ve finally got a new album by one of Pennsylvania’s greatest “Bar Bands”.  Where you might expect either a nostalgic 80s sound or a quick  attempt to copy the current trends this album has a sound all its’ own.  It’s very powerful and has the hard driving sound that modern rock songs have without the hate and anger stile of singing so prevalent today.  One song is sung by original Magdalene singer Chris Alburger and has the most traditional “Hybrid Ice” flavor while the remaining tracks are split between Rusty and Bob.  All 9 songs rock and there’s not a weak track on the disc.   It’s still has the complex harmonies and layers of guitar over keyboard (or vice versa) that made Hybrid Ice so great and made their songs so appropriate for Boston when Tom was looking to add some outside songs.  The only criticism I can state for the album is I thought some of the tracks could’ve used a more complex bass track.  Probably because Jeff, the original Hybrid Ice bass player had left the band.  It could also be purely my opinion since I’m a bass player and like complex moving bass lines.

Some key tracks: 
Fight Another Day, and Bring the Gold are both very powerful rockers that open and set the tone for the album
Sadder Day Morn has an almost Folk hook to it while still being a rock song.  Very nicely done. 
Shining Star brings the feel of Hybrid Ice of the 80s without being a leftover sounding track.
Faith Without Works is a mini rock opera type song at almost 10 minutes and climbs and dips throughout bring many tones while still being tied together as one song.

Over all, I was very surprised and pleased with this album.  After all, most of us are very rusty after a 22 year hiatus.  But, obviously, in this case Rusty (Hybrid Ice Song wirter and lead guitar) was on his game.
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