In which the much-loved American pomp rock stalwarts continue their Mark Mangold-inspired late career renaissance…

It’s not as simple as that, of course, and ivory tinkler Mangold isn’t the sole reason House of Lords continue to find themselves in a happy place, but you get my drift – HoL are still very much in the game.

Mainman James Christian has kept the flame alive for thirty seven years now, and it’s testament to his single-minded vision and stickability that the band are here at all. The possessor of a golden throat, he’s been at the centre of everything that’s good about this band from the start, and it’s a delight to hear him belting out material of the quality of this album’s title track, not to mention standout cuts State of Emergency and Still Believe; Faithful guitar foil Jimi Bell is here again too, proving once more that he’s a master of the concise hard rock solo (and the not so concise too – his epic efforts on closing track Castles High are quite superb), and basking deservedly in the sunny fruits of his and the boss’ hard work through the lean times.

But it’s impossible to deny the impact newcomers Mangold and drummer Johan Koleberg have had on this band; The hard-hitting Koleberg must surely rate alongside Ken Mary and Tommy Aldridge as the best drummers to occupy the HoL drumstool, and Mangold? Well, his stardust-laden fingerprints are all over this album, from the glittering pomp of the Touch-quoting title track to the hefty, portentous hard rock of closer Castles High, he powers the whole thing forward with pure, unadulterated class. Mangold and Christian are undoubtedly a marriage made in heaven, and it’s an utter delight to hear them harnessed together again on Full Tilt Overdrive.

It’s too late for this band to make ‘the big time’, whatever that is these days, again, but in their own World they rule the roost, and it’s hard to see them relinquishing that crown any time soon on the strength of this might release. More power to them, and let’s hope they can keep this going for a few albums more…

Full Tilt Overdrive releases on October 11th.