After an excellent debut collaboration release, Sweet and Lynch, just two years later, return with more solid melodic rock and metal. There is some really good\/solid stuff here for sure, and most who enjoyed Only To Rise<\/span> will find Unified<\/span> in pretty much the same vein. But while I really liked the balance of Lynch\u2019s styles with Sweet\u2019s on the debut, to me, Unified<\/span> feels a bit more Sweet than Lynch. I mean, the first two tracks could easily find their way onto a Stryper record (both musically and lyrically). I love Stryper, but I feel with this band there should be something a bit more distinctive. I think Only to Rise<\/span> was able to blend the two artists effectively, but many of these songs have a strongly Sweet\/Stryper vibe. And again, I don\u2019t mean that in a negative way, just a bit surprised by the direction here. The bluesy guitar work in \u201cTried & True\u201d shifts the balance in Lynch\u2019s direction, but once again the lyrics bleed Sweet. Regardless the intent, I do like the message and the lyrics to the title track.\u00a0 There is some redundancy here as well \u2013 listen to the main riffs in \u201cHeart of Fire\u201d and \u201cMake Your Mark\u201d and tell me you don\u2019t hear a lot of similarity. \u201cBridge of Broken Lies\u201d has some nice guitar and vocal melodies \u2013 can\u2019t help but wonder to whom these words are directly though. \u201cBetter Man\u201d is one of the best songs here \u2013 great words and some tasteful guitar leads. And the album ends on a really positive note with the upbeat and uplifting \u201cLive to Die.\u201d In summary, Unified<\/span> is a solid collection of songs, but I think the creative energy\/synergy of Sweet\/Lynch is not as evident here as it was on the debut. In fairness, I definitely think this will appeal more to fans of Sweet\u2019s solo work (and even Stryper) than to fans of Lynch Mob\/Dokken. [Frontiers]<\/span><\/p>\n