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TYGERS OF PAN TANG
Majors & Minors
Mighty Music

B-sides!

Unreleased tracks that even Lars Ulrich probably doesn’t have in his collection!

And a Florentine on vocals not named Jim so as to celebrate a Renaissance!

If legendary NWOBHM stalwarts TYGERS OF PAN TANG could hoard any more songs to build upon their 40-year old catalogue from the past decade or so to release to the public, they’d probably be weekly regulars on Storage Wars being made to barter the worth of their wares against Darrell Sheets. That said, the true TYGER kings have amassed enough original material to sound off anyone’s wow factor with this ambitious offering titled Majors & Minors. Yet, it’s not an actual brand new studio album because many of these songs had been written from as far back as 14 years ago, as anyone following the band since the mid-2000’s would’ve immediately recognized their latter-day tracks “Only The Brave”, “Let It Burn”, “Hot Blooded” (totally not a cover of FOREIGNER’s hit) and “Glad Rags” on this album from latter-day previous releases on this eye-catching release.

So, would it be considered a latter-day “best of” compilation?

Kinda, because the band wanted to offer something special to both loyal fans, collectors and those who have missed their latest records, according to founding member Robb Weir.

Couldn’t this album be titled something like Odds & Sods instead?

“47 years too late on that idea” – Roger Daltrey, if I’d asked him that same question about this album.

Then, what is Majors & Minors considered to be?

"TYGERS’ music is full of big notes and little notes, so let's start with a Major one and finish with on a Minor!" – Robb Weir

Works for me.

So, while the TOPT lineup’s changed its stripes frequently over the years, particularly with the inclusion of frontman Jack “Jacopo” Meille (who really is originally from Florence, Italy) since 2004 and the band’s longest-staying frontman having recorded their last four studio albums, their powerful brand of upbeat party-style hard rock and metal remains as identifiable as ever on these latter-day underrated classics. The first three opening tracks “Only The Brave”, “Destiny” and “She” offer a decent mid-80’s WHITESNAKE/KISS vibe; by “Never Give In” and “Worlds Apart”, the band have kept their trademark NWOBHM aggression fairly consistent elsewhere on the album. Other straightforward hard rock anthems include “Let It Burn”, “White Lines”, the flamenco guitar-intro-sounding “Keeping Me Alive” (which is also included as an exclusive live version from a 2016 concert in Fismes, France on the album’s vinyl), “Hot Blooded” (which riffs and grooves as every bit as the completely different-sounding but similarly-titled FOREIGNER hit, owing a few subtle nods to AC/DC and KROKUS in parts), the previously-unreleased numbers “What You Say” and “Plug Me In” and the chugging “Damn You!” to bolster the TYGERS’ heavy-charged sound. As well, the inclusion of a new orchestral version of “Spoils Of War” from 2019’s Ritual offers a more dramatic tone to the song with a haunting string section. Meille’s dynamic and vibrant-sounding range throughout Majors & Minors showcases why TOPT’s post-NWOBHM output has sounded consistently stronger over time with him at the mic while helping to retain the band’s archetypical raw DIY spirit – quite the major accomplishment compared to some of their other contemporaries over time.

Whatever TYGERS OF PAN TANG’s loyal following will want to call Majors & Minors, it still comes down to being an album worthy of room in one’s burgeoning collection of the band’s much-revered material.

5.0 Out Of 5.0

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