Nelson – Lightining Strikes Twice (Frontiers) album review

By: Justine Bevan

Perhaps you remember a band called Nelson from the 90’s? They were the twins known mainly for being oh-so dreamy and for being the kids to Ricky Nelson, of “Garden Party” fame or maybe even more so from the radio, then television show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Their debut release was After the Rain (1990), which contained the hit “Love and Affection”.

On the heels of their album  came grunge and the world mourned the end of “hair bands” for a while at least. Fast forward 20 years and they are back with a new release entitled Lightning Strikes Twice. Still being oh so cute, and still a force to be reckoned with, the first song, “Call Me” is catchy, and is a good opening for the album. “Day By Day” is kind of subpar in comparison, considering that the rest of the record is really good. “Ready, Willing and Able” is a good ole’ rock n’ roll song, while “How Can I Miss You,”  is such a nice melodic, stay in your head kind of tune. The song speaks of having maybe too much time with someone really special. “How Can I Miss You,  if you won’t go away?” Priceless and genius! The hit, if there were to be one, is “You’re All I Need Tonight”; not quite a “Love and Affection”, but then no one would want the same song again anyway.  Another great listen is “To Get Back To You” ….so reminiscent of Styx. The vocal quality is crisp, the guitar work impressive. Other noted goodies are, “When You’re Gone’, “Take Me There”, and “Change A Thing” – that last one being particularly good. The only possible throw away on the album is “Day By Day”, so all in all a pretty darn good effort from the Nelson boys. Their Daddy would be proud!