Unruly Child goes into the section ”Reunited bands that never got anywhere in the first place, so why bother now?”. I might be a little harsh now, but the fact is, that is the truth. They were formed in 1992 by singer Mark Free and guitarist Bruce Gowdy and released a magnificent self titled debut album, full of big choruses and melodies that, in a better world, would have sold millions. It didn’t. So they split, but Gowdy kept the band going for a while, releasing a couple of albums with new members that sold even less. Remember, this was in the 90’s, grunge ruled and AOR was an ugly word. It still is to some people. Now we’re writing 2011 and all of a sudden we get a new album by Unruly Child with the original line up from 1992. The only difference is that Mark Free is now Marcie Free. The sex change hasn’t changed voice at all and the guy… eeh, sorry, girl, is still one of the best singers out there. My only question is, who is gonna buy this? I mean, nobody were interested in the first place.
I am, however, glad that they did decide to get their shit together and made a new record, because, just as their debut, this is a fantastic album. The music is still melodic hard rock / AOR at its best, however, the production could be better. It’s not bad, but it sounds like a touched up demo. It’s a pity, but the songs do make up for that. ”Show Me The Money” and ”Insane” are great openers, melodic as hell, but with a rockier feel and first single ”When We Were Young” is a perfect AOR track. If the music Gods should smile at them, this could very well become a hit. The two ballads, ”Tell Another Lie” (sounds like Free’s former band Signal) and ”You Don’t Understand” are real killers. That’s how you write a ballad, my friends. ”Love Is Blind” is plain wonderful with a killer chorus, but the ”You Give Love A Bad Name” – riff is a bit too obvious though. ”Neverland” has a cool under lying groove with a refrain that really hits home. If you never heard of this band and melodic rock / AOR is your thing, then give them a shot because this is a great come back and melodic rock at its best.
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Tracklist:
01. Show Me The Money
02. Insane
03. When We Were Young
04. Tell Another Lie
05. Love Is Blind
06. When Worlds Collide
07. Talk To Me
08. Life Death
09. Read My Mind
10. Neverland
11. Very First Time
12. You Don’t Understand
CD & Festival reviews 
This makes me want to check out early Unruly Child now. This is incredibly strong. I can’t believe that Marcie’s voice has not changed at all! Regardless, it doesn’t matter, except in the sense that it’s always fantastic to hear a singer whose voice stood up over the decades!
Great track. Absolutely great. The problem with your site Jon is that there is a whole bunch of melodic rock bands like this that I have not heard, but want to own.
I have a list where I write down all the albums I want to buy and buy them when I have to money to do it. Luckily enough, I buy everything from WOW HD and their prices are sometimes ridiculously low.
Btw, this track isn’t even close to being the best track on this album. Just thought I’d say that… 😉