You almost feel sorry for the guys to the point where you wish them the best even without knowing what they're gonna do here!

A down on the luck story as far as bands go, but nearly twenty years after the fact, one which may yet be given a proper ending. Gaskin, named after Paul, vocals/guitar, is an English trio first formed-surprise-at the dawn of what was to be the new British metal invasion, circa '79.

After some bright prospects and even darker conflicts, the band just dissolved with only a couple of singles and full lengths under the belts and a lot more "what might have been" recollections, one might think.

So for the moment, Gaskin comes up to bat once again and on their newest "Stand or Fall" recording, it's nice to see the unrealized potential of before hasn't thinned much.

The "Gaskin" logo isn't what you would call real "eye candy" but rather dull-almost like some thoughtless 1970's rock band's reissue where your first reaction before even slipping the disc out of the sleeve is to yawn.

"Stand or Fall" is solid most of the way through, not without its "sleepy" moments however, as "Still Got the Hunger" first comes to mind and sounds almost like they slept through it.

Earlier on, "The Man is Back" and "Tomorrow Today" put a good foot forward from the starting line and without running into the stumbling block, sets a tone for a fairly respectable run.

I hear quite a bit of early Gary Moore in this stuff, particularly where Gaskin's vocals go, and if he was this polished back in their day, I'm a little surprised to learn they were so bent on getting another vocalist.

All right there's only so much running around you can do on stage with a guitar strapped to your shoulder but big deal!

"Stand or Fall" is pure 80's. or put simply, catchy, fun-flavored heavy rock with more than a fair share of commercial consciousness-"Don't Talk About Love," "City of Lights." Terrific opening moment there in "City of Lights", also would've made for a great backing track for one of yesterday's action thrillers!

Most listeners, particularly traditionalists, will find something to like about "Stand or Fall's" Saxon-like bravado, but don't expect anything too advanced-it's basically your safe, medium quality guitar rock stuff, with strong hooks, well sung, but the production could definitely use a fresh coat of polish.

Released by Edgy Records

Review By Vinnie Apicella