Legend Has It - Driven

Legend Has It - Driven

2010, Legend Has It

Atlanta rockers Legend Has It spent a number of years as a cover band, learning the subtleties performance from the artists they covered while developing their own imprints on the songs.  Making the jump to original material wasn’t hard, as in this fashion Legend Has It had some of the best teachers in rock and pop music.  Already a big draw in Atlanta, Legend Has It looks to spread their wings in 2011 throughout the Southeast US and beyond with Driven, an album of quality rock tunes and a dynamic live show.

Driven opens with "Anything You Want To Sing, a healthy dose of heavy rock with pop finesse and big hooks.  It's a catchy and memorable opening track built around bruising guitar riffs that are head bang worthy.  Vocalist Derek Walton stands out.  A singer rather than a screamer, Walton crafts his vocal lines like with pizzazz of a theatrical performer.  "Simple Changes" has that catchy, big rock feel, and nurtures a lyric melodicism that smoothes the rough edges.  The lyrics aren't quite up to the level of the music, but the gap is sufficiently small as to not matter to most listeners.  "After The Fall" keeps the big guitar presence and works in the sort of big vocal harmonies that dominated 1970's/1980's rock. 

"Into Reality" is a catchy, likeable track, a likely single.  You'll find the urge to dance to this one hard to resist.  "Given The Chance" is a vibrant rocker built on dynamic guitar riffs and a huge, hook-filled chorus.  Another likely single, "Given The Chance" seems like the most likely track to break out for Legend Has It.  "Close Enough To Touch" is all about taking the leap of faith into the relationship, topped off with the sort of chorus you walk away humming or singing.  Legend Has It says goodnight with "Work In Progress", a solid closer that serves as a sufficient bookend to Driven but may have been more properly designated as an album track somewhere in the middle. 

Legend Has It certainly has the touch for the big chorus in particular, and catchy rock tunes that play well to mass media without sounding like they were crafted for such.  It wouldn't be surprising to learn that Legend Has It is a lion on stage.  The energy focused into the constrained format of recorded media is distinctive, and may be just a drop in the bucket.  Either way, Driven is very much worth the attention of rock fans.  Even with one or two slow moments along the way, Legend Has It delivers consistent quality punctuated by killer choruses, big guitars and a pop finesse that's all been forgotten in the mainstream.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Legend Has It at http://www.legendhasit.net/ or www.myspace.com/legendhasitrocks.  Driven is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.