Eddy: I was having dinner with my wife at a local Chinese restaurant and the door opened and a guy with long hair walked in. We looked at each other and we recognized each other. I had met the dude a few years ago when he was a vocalist in the band that supported Toto in Dortmund, Germany. The band was called Cooper Inc. and they impressed me a lot with their sound and their spontaneous performance. After the show we met again at an after-party with the Toto-guys in their hotel.
That was where I also met the guitarist Christian Tolle who already released a great AOR album on his own and Hans, the drummer. Him I knew already for many years, he used to work at the metal section of our local record-store and at the time he suggested many CDs to me. Then Hans left that job to go to the USA to get drum lessons by a well-known drummer whose name fails me at this moment. When Hans came back he built a nice career for himself playing with about 1001 bands. Some of you might know one of his earlier bands China White or maybe some of you saw him play with Thin Lizzy cover-band Parris and Steve Fister. He made the biggest jump in his career when he became the new drummer in the most famous hard rock in The Netherlands; Vengeance.
To return to the beginning of this story, when vocalist John Cuijpers and I met again at that Chinese restaurant he told me that he and the rest of Cooper Inc. were putting down the finishing touches on their new album in a studio in Germany together with top producer Michael Voss and it wouldn’t take them long before they would release their CD. Of course, knowing already some tunes by the band, I asked my head-editor to send me the promo of that album for a review. And so he did and since that day my life just got even a bit happier than it already was.
This half German, half Dutch band has succeeded in putting together a very fine album with twelve very entertaining hard rock songs. They sound like a mix of some of the finest bands around like Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard but still with a finishing unique touch of their own. The four guys in the band are all very talented and really hit all the right notes when they put together this new album. For another finishing touch they got some co-operation from Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich and Dare guitarist Vinnie Burns. Michael Voss did add some background vocals and keyboards. THE highlight on this album is track eleven called ‘Let Me Out’ and really showcases the strong vocals Jaycee (John Cuijpers) has to offer. It’s amazing how un-Dutch and how international he sounds and the power he produces in his vocal-lines. I think when Whitesnake singer Coverdale will retire and he should like to keep his band alive with a new singer; he should give Jaycee a call to succeed him. Anyway, the new album from Cooper Inc. is a real treat for anyone who appreciates straight forward hard rock music.
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