Metal Underground.com

Northern Irish based rockers The Answer received huge acclaim for their debut album, "Rise," which was released in 2006 and earned them the award of "Best new U.K. band" by Classic Rock magazine. To help introduce themselves to the North American audience, the band released the EP, "Never Too Late."

The EP begins with the title track, which comes from the band's debut album and is a great big slice of classic rock as everyone knows and loves it. The song contains great energy from start to finish and is a treat for lovers of good ol' rock music in the vein of Led Zeppelin. The problem with this song, however, is that it sounds WAY too much like Led Zeppelin in some places. Some may argue that this isn't a bad thing, but it can be when a rock band exists to create an identity of their own. The title track is still a good song though.

Next is the song, "Highwater Or Hell," which will appear on the band's forthcoming second album, "Everyday Demons." It has a fantastic opening groove to it but once again is plagued by the Led Zeppelin sound at times. However, it does come into it's own a lot more during the chourus and is a good sing-a-long track. This song is good fun and shows promise for the next album.

The next track, "The Doctor," was featured previously as a bonus track on the Japanese release of "Rise." The song is a departure from the previous two tracks as it's much more rooted in blues music. It bobs along quite nicely and picks up into a good rocker at exactly the right time to stop it from becoming boring. Perhaps they should have made this a regular album track, as it's too good to deprive people of.

To cap the CD off there's a live recording of the band performing the song "Come Follow Me" in Japan. Again, this is good old fashioned rock music and it sounds great live. Just by listening to this track, it makes you really want to see The Answer live. Despite being a live track, the sound quality is still very good too.

As an added bonus, the EP comes with a bonus DVD, which features roughly an hour worth of footage. The DVD includes some more great rock tunes from the band to keep you interested, including music videos. It also features some insightful interviews and some cool footage of the band on the road - a nice treat for anyone who's a fan of the band or for someone really intrigued by them.

Overall, The Answer rocks. There's not really a better way to describe them. However, what is perhaps the band's greatest gift may also prove to be it's greatest problem, namely that the band sounds way too much like the older bands they were influenced by. There's something about putting a sticker on the CD that says "For fans of Led Zeppelin, Free, AC/DC and Black Crowes" that can spoil the enjoyment, because you are given strong expectations and aren't really surprised by anything when you listen to them. However, when all is said and done, it's great to see that the spirit of rock is still alive and well. Check out this CD and the forthcoming album if you want to re-live the good old days of rock. It might just be "The Answer" you've been looking for! (Bet you couldn't wait for the pun in this review huh?)