Review: Wild Rose – Too Dangerous

Lion’s Pride Music (August 29^th 2025)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper 

The AOR-based band Wild Rose has recently delved into their back catalog to re-release their first two albums. Their debut, ‘Half Past Midnight‘, was re-recorded, remixed, and remastered.  It featured two bonus tracks and was released in 2018. With high demand from that release, the band decided to reissue their sophomore release, renaming it from ‘Dangerous‘ to ‘Too Dangerous‘. To my knowledge, the only changes this time around are four bonus tracks of demos recorded a year prior to the release of the album. These demos feature singer Mark Thompson Smith and, as the press release notes, “A slightly updated booklet”. Having never heard the album, or any album from the band, I decided to give this one a go.

Based on the band logo and album cover, I expected something more akin to an 80s LA hard rock sound, but what I got was closer to bands like Loverboy and Aviator, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. With this album having been previously released, most fans of the genre have likely heard it, so I’ll keep this review brief with some highlights. My review of the demo tracks is in the paragraph that follows.

The album pulls you in with the urgent and hard driving ‘Alone’. Harder edged AOR is a sweet spot for me, and this song is a blast to crank while driving. Both ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ and ‘Dream On’ are great mid-tempo blasts with David Antonio Saylor pouring his heart out in his vocalizations. I first became aware of David from one of his final projects, Zhenx. The man’s vocals ooze sincerity, power, and passion. The ballad ‘Tonight’ is a perfect mix of all three qualities. What a greatly missed talent.

Admittedly I was biased in checking out the demos with a different singer. How can it possibly compare to such a strong vocalist taken from us too soon? Mark Thompson Smith does an admirable job and helped laid the groundwork for the band to craft these songs, but these tracks are for completionists only. The sound of the demos is on the better end. You would only know that they are demos by comparing them to the album tracks. That is not the issue here. It does not compare to the vocal delivery of David. To be fair, it was never meant to be a competition. Demos with other vocalists to try out ideas is not a foreign concept, and this is not meant to be a slight on Mr. Smith.

I would suggest checking out these demo songs online. If you have the initial release, there’s nothing new here that is essential. With that said, if you found yourself without a copy of this terrific album, make things right and purchase this re-release straight away.

Tracklist:

1. Alone
2. Hold On
3. I Can’t Stop Loving You
4. If You Still Love Me
5. Dream On
6. Awake
7. Tonight
8. I Won’t Forget You (Feat. Tatiana Economou)
9. Is This Love
10. Not a Day Goes By
11. I Can’t Stop Loving You (Feat. Mark Thompson Smith & John Bitzios – Bonus)
12. Awake (Feat. Mark Thompson Smith & John Bitzios – Bonus)
13. Is This Love (Feat. Mark Thompson Smith & John Bitzios – Bonus)
14. Not a Day Goes By (Feat. Mark Thompson Smith & John Bitzios – Bonus)

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