ROSY VISTA

Unbelievable / 49:56 Min.

SPV Steamhammer

"Good things take a while," as the saying goes. The 1984 to 1989 existing female hard rock band Rosy Vista from Hannover / Germany around the busy producer, guitarist, singer and songwriter Anca Graterol, may have taken the phrase too literal. For the debut album released this days sees the light of day almost 30 years after split-up of the band.

A long time, no doubt. On the other hand, it is rarely too early and never too late to fulfill a lifelong dream. And this is precisely the position the album takes for Anca Graterol and her combatants Andrea Schwarz (vocals), Angela Mann (bass) and Marina Hlubek (drums). The four established musicians continue to write the story of their shared old love, Rosy Vista, who came to an abrupt end in the late 1980s after successful tours with well-known Bands such as Mötley Crüe, Joe Cocker, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Uriah Heep, and others. The former record company got cold feet after publishing an EP and did not want to believe in the long-term success of a women's hard rock band (yes, the emancipation was still in its infancy at that time), the band suddenly stood there without a record deal. Health problems of front woman Andrea Schwarz finally sealed the fate of Rosy Vista.

In 2019 the quartet picks up the thread again and presents its debut work with the programmatic title UNBELIEVABLE. The album consists of six fresh compositions, a cover version of Steppenwolf‘s popular tune "Born To Be Wild" as well as new recordings of the five tracks that were already part of the 1985 EP. To anticipate it right away: Novices will not be able to fathom which numbers are fresh or older material. This speaks for the timelessness of the songs that Graterol & Co. have composed. UNBELIEVABLE sounds like a unified whole and is full of enthusiasm and passion.

The first single "Crazy" turns out to be the perfect album opener. Crisp reef, great hook. "Master Of Control", "Tables Are Turned" or "Poor Rosy" are no less splendid and let advocates of hard melodic rock cluck their tongues. With numbers like the super awesome groove-stamper "Sadistic Lover", the subtle bluesy ballad "Too Much Feeling" and last but not least the extraordinary but fantastic "Hopatina" Rosy Vista throw more "camels for the ears" into the auditorium. Whether it would have really needed the cover version of "Born To Be Wild", is an open question. At least live, the popular tune should find enough grateful customers and be beneficial to the alcohol sales.

Sound, attitude, songwriting, everything is just right! As far as I'm concerned, Rosy Vista is ending the decade-long debate about whether women in a „balls-dominated“ Rock world really have anything to look for; namely once and for all!

Review: Marc Schipper