Simon RushworthGiant — Stand And Deliver (Frontiers)
Back in March we lauded red hot track Hold The Night and argued melodic rock royalty Giant should have been so much bigger.
Cheesy but true.
Such was the dynamic quality running right through the band’s dazzling debut Last Of The Runaways and flawless follow-up Time To Burn, it’s a crying shame that Giant burst onto the scene almost a decade too late.
Just as the insanely talented Huff brothers (Dann and David) were hitting their stride, grunge was grabbing rock by the balls… and relentlessly tightening its grip.
Suddenly there was no place for polished AOR fuelled by wild optimism and crowd-pleasing, chorus-driven ambition.
Time To Burn boldly carried the melodic rock flame just as Nirvana’s Nevermind, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger and Pearl Jam’s Ten were launching an ultimately decisive counter-attack.
In 1991 the battle ground for the hearts and minds of the MTV generation was about to give hair metal’s latter day heroes the bloodiest of noses.
Even a Giant reputation counted for nothing as Kurt and co. ruthlessly rewrote the rock and roll rulebook.
It took 10 years for AOR’s next big thing to rally but ‘comeback album’ III completed an unmatched hat-trick — better late than never.
Promise Land (2010) and Shifting Time (2022) kept the pot boiling but the stunning Stand And Deliver’s a different beast.
Two albums at the helm and irrepressible frontman Kent Hilli has found his true calling — yet again the dream alternative to Dann Huff does his predecessor proud on a record that pulls no punches.
Giant really should have been bigger. Why not now?
Why Stand And Deliver really does deliver
The title track to this true return to form sounds tantalisingly similar to Superstitious-era Europe: it’s that good.
Hilli’s no Tempest-lite as he hurls himself headlong into a masterful melodic rock tour de force that’ll take some beating this year.
And it’s the first time Dann Huff’s signature tone hasn’t been missed by the band he co-founded with his brother almost 40 years ago.
Then there’s slaying six stringer Jimmy Westerlund — the One Desire alumnus is credited with mixing Stand And Deliver and maybe that’s why he sounds so good.
Or perhaps it’s because the flying Finn’s simply one of the best in the business — he’s a permanent fixture on the Frontiers roster — when it comes to crafting simply awesome AOR.
Hilli and Westerlund are 2025’s answer to Lou Gramm and Mick Jones and David Huff should be doing everything it takes to keep this killer combo together.
Just listen to them soar on Time To Call It Love — a classic 80s-styled power ballad that surely belongs on the new Top Gun soundtrack
Pleasure Dome’s powerful mix of Slip Of The Tongue-era Whitesnake and peak Graham Bonnet is melodic rock perfection.
And It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over leans on a subtle Bruce Hornsby-esque piano intro. before exploding into something quite spectacular.
Hilli and Westerlund walk tall in the land of Giant. Here’s hoping they’re going nowhere soon.
