I have always thought House of Lords were highly underrated and got lost in the shuffle during the 80’s. James Christian, one of the more versatile and dynamic voices for melodic Hard Rock/ Metal, and former Giuffria mainman Greg Giuffria were the core to the Lords. "Sahara" was one of my favorite albums in 1990, a nice melding of melodic rock, metal and progressive elements was what separated them from the pack. The follow up "Demons Down" was also good but not as strong I thought, possible because it lacked contributions by the likes of guitarist Doug Aldrich (also at the time with Lion and Hurricane). Over ten years after "Demons" they returned in 2004 with “The Power and the Myth” minus Greg.

For "World Upside Down", James is joined by new players while original member Greg Giuffria is only credited as keyboard productions and not as a performer or member. Still, even though Greg’s not an actual player his keyboard sound and the heavy ivory based music remains virtually unchanged. James has done a great job retaining House of Lords classic keyboard carried prog influenced melodic hard rock. His voice’s tone is still well in tact and you can hear that on the ballad ‘All the Pieces Falling’ where his pitch and soulful delivery shines through. ‘These are the Times’ and ‘Rock Bottom’ shows the House still rocks hard with a little bit of an updated feel in the guitars bringing their sound into 06. House of Lords are very radio friendly without getting soft as a melodious chorus is the base to every song. I really cant pick out a recommendation because the whole disc is a great example of that.

The House of Lords remains strong and kings of the melodic castle.