Review: Michael Bormann’s Jaded Hard – South West

RMB Records – October 2^nd, 2026

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

Michael Bormann’s Jaded Hard is back with their third album ‘South West‘. Being a fan of his since the late 90s, I always look forward to hearing his voice on anything, having recently been pleased with his contributions on the latest Sinner album. It’s been nearly four years since the release of the album ‘Power To Win’ (review here), an album that I rated highly.

After a playthrough of this new album, something struck me as odd. I wasn’t really digging the album. It didn’t thrill me as much as other albums Michael has performed on. Chalking it up to being tired, I decided to check out the album after a full night’s sleep. Another playthrough the next day, and it hit me. The album’s production is lacking.  It is a bit muted and muddled. This is most noted in the drums. They are recorded a bit dry, with little reverb, like a pop producer was behind the helm of a rock album.

I’m going to make a Stryper comparison here. I’m a huge fan of that band, but their 1988 album ‘In God We Trust‘ is overproduced, stripping that metal edge away with a more pop-tinged sound. On ‘South West‘, there’s a song titled ‘In The Shadows Of The Night’, a fast paced, real up-tempo rocker. The producer and/or mixer decided to put the keyboards front and center and greatly reduce the guitar. Coupled with a mediocre drum sound, you end up with an average track. What should have been a blast to crank and rock out to… comes off flat.

Another example can be found in Track 2. By all accounts, ‘Love, Touch, and Trouble’ should be my jam. Great rockin’ melody, awesome arpeggios in the opening riff, and a sing-along chorus. A song like that should be spectacular. Instead, it’s just…good. The production lets the song down.  The guitar is thankfully present, but the drums are too soft sounding. They sound like electric drums and not traditionally acoustic. I’m not a sonics expert, but if they decided to utilize electric drums, it affects the overall product.

For comparison, I played this song and then followed it up with one of my favorite Michael Bormann tracks, ‘Domino’ from Jaded Hard’s last album. The production is night and day!  This album sounds like they demoed the songs in the studio then decided it was good enough and did nothing to mix it.

So how about the songs? The tracks that benefit best from this production are the softer, more AOR friendly tracks. It also happens that the best songs are featured on the latter half of the album. ‘I’ll Always Remember You’ is beautiful and mellifluous. It’s designed to pull at the heart strings and accomplishes its mission.

That moving melody is followed by album favorite ‘Kissed By You’. With the focal point of the song focused on the keyboards and drums, the song has a classic Journey mid-tempo feel. It’s exactly what you think it’s about with a song title like that. Memory evoking and playfully passionate in its delivery. Everyone who loves Michael’s work will be playing this on repeat.

An upbeat rocker that is not terribly affected by the production is ‘One Step Back’. With a melody that reminded me, but is not similar to, Bon Jovi’s ‘Runaway’, it’s a track that has the feel of that old school Jaded Heart sound that I miss from that band. It’s great to hear Michael continue to carry the sound that his fans love.

One track I never warmed to was ballad ‘I’m A Liar (That’s No Fantasy)’, where he repeats the title numerous times throughout the song. It opens the first and third line of ever verse. It’s quite tedious to hear it repeated so often. Bormann has a terrific voice, but sad to say his choice to emote the way he does here is grating.

Out of the three Jaded Hard releases, this one falls to the bottom. It’s not a bad album, but certainly a disappointment. With a more rock-favored production, this album would have matched the last one. Some great songs here, but these tunes deserve a better sound.

Track list:

1. Country Boy
2. Love, Touch, and Trouble
3. Stop Those Rainy Days (30 Years Later)
4. That’s The Only Truth
5. In The Shadows of the Night
6. I’ll Always Remember You
7. Kissed By You
8. There’s No Living Without You
9. I’m A Liar (That’s No Fantasy)
10. One Step Back
11. Cheers To (Dedicated To Holger Bussler)

Line-up:

Michael Bormann – lead vocals
Chris Ivo – keyboards, backing vocal
Michael Müller – drums
Andreas Rippelmeier – lead guitar, backing vocals
Christoph Baumeister – bass, backing vocals

Web Links:

Facebook