Metal Underground.com

A solid, if unremarkable hard rock debut, The Slam's "Hit It!" mostly hits the right notes, but adds little in the way of innovation to its distinctly 1970s-style sounds. If early Aerosmith, Boston and the mighty Zep set your head a-bangin', this is sure to head into heavy rotation for you. Those not looking to party like it's 1979 might want to look elsewhere.

The disc gets down to business with "Wild Ride," which has an opening riff that will no doubt remind some of Tony Iommi's main riff to "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (I heard echoes of "Sweet Leaf" and "Paranoid" in a couple other riffs). It's thick, groovy hard rock, but with an extra dose of pop motion courtesy of drummer Mike Blacksmith, and singer-guitarist Serge Simic lets loose with the first of a great many superb solos.

The absolute highlight of the disc is "Little Angel," a track that features a guest appearance from Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath fame. The song's potent groove feels like something from the Coverdale-era Deep Purple, with some excellent vocal harmonies.

Tracks like "Mr. Rock N Rolla" and "Kisser" are definitely reminiscent of '70s-era Kiss, while the band gets all old-timey in a Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" way (complete with acoustic guitars and bop-bop-shoo-wop backing vocals) on "Hooked On Rock N Roll."

All that is well and good, but there's nothing here that sets The Slam apart from any of the myriad of other bands out there that really like Kiss, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and Black Sabbath — save for the band's playing ability. Then again, that's probably enough to recommend "Hit It!" to anyone who enjoys the sounds of the '70s.