Crazy Lixx supremo Danny Rexon is the undisputed World Champion of the DKC – Dramatic Key Change – that much we already know. But on the excellent Caught Between The Rock n’Roll, a track from the band’s new and much-anticipated new album, Street Lethal, he executes such a dramatic key change that my head nearly exploded due to the heightened blood pressure caused by the maestro’s deft manipulation of sound. And that track isn’t even any where near the best on the album…

In simple terms, Rexon has hit it out of the park again with this new album. Sensibly demurring on the chance to expand the band’s musical horizons, he concentrates on doing what he does best, with the result that Street Lethal provides fans with exactly what they want from Crazy Lixx, but with added craziness and, erm, even more lixx…

The superb In The Middle of Nothing is easily the best lighters-aloft power ballad you’ll hear this year, but that’s not really why you visit a CL album, is it? No, you want the life-affirming, reach-for-the-stars-we-can-make-it-baby anthems Rexon has cornered the market in, songs like One Fire-One Goal, Rise Above and Anthem For America, all of which rank amongst the best Crazy Lixx tracks ever committed to wax. And all worth the price of admission on their own.

It’s not all Rexon of course – Chrisse Olsson and Jens Lundgren bring plenty to the guitar party too, especially the pyrotechnic solo on Rise Above and superb closer Thief in the Night  – but overall Street Lethal is undoubtedly the celebration of one man’s vision and commitment to keeping the flame of eighties rock alive in an increasingly dour musical environment. As the final notes of Thief In The Night drift off in to the ether, it’s guitar coda set to lodge itself in your cerebral cortex for the next couple of years, you’re left reflecting that although many try, few capture the spark of what made the late eighties such a wonderful time to be alive as a rock fan as well as Rexon. And for that, again, we must all give thanks. Utterly spellbinding stuff.

Street Lethal releases on November 5th.