Von Hertzen Brothers - New Day Rising

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Terrible advice for performing a frontal lobotomy, but when it comes to music there’s method in the oft-quoted madness. It’s not for everyone, either. The list of bands that made it big, or at least had one big hit after many years or attempts is surprisingly short. But some bands got their due with a track after no small amount of time at the plate. The reverse Black Betty, as it’s known (as of right now, thanks to me). 

To create their chapter in the book of big hitters, Finnish rockers Von Hertzen Brothers certainly had a while to wait. Six albums worth of wait over fourteen years, to be specific, and that’s only counting the time they’ve spent together as musicians apart from their individual projects. Not that they had any shortage of excellent music in that time – their take on progressive rock is, in this humble pundit’s opinion, cracking. But it took a lot of plugging away to create something that captured the ears of a wider audience.

Enter tune. An anthemic belter of stadium-sized proportions, New Day Rising is nothing short of a guarantee that some poor flat surface is about to get pounded on. A blasting-cap blend of prog and hard rock, it crams as much good stuff into one singular point as possible and encourages you to light the fuse. This is the stuff that Rock Song of the Week picks are made of, so make like Marty McFly and straight-up destroy your living room with this one.