Review | Stan Bush – Born For Battle

LA Records / Cargo

Some five years after his 14^th CD ‘Dare To Dream’ AOR-rocker/vocalist Stan Bush makes a triumphant return to the scene. For the last four years Stan and his right-hand man Holger Fath (guitars/keys/production and co-composer) have been working on this 11-track album. During the years this webzine has followed the singer’s career. He is well respected by fans of the melodic and AOR-genre but I also think it is fair to say that Bush never ever made that breakthrough that made him a household name.

Still, the man who is now in his seventies, always has followed his own lead. First in the band Boulder (with Axe-singer Bob Harris) and with his own band Stan Bush & Barrage. One of the songs that he wrote and recorded with Stan Bush & Barrage (,,Love Don’t Lie’’) became a major hit when House Of Lords recorded the track for their first album that was released in 1988.

FILM INDUSTRY

Bush established a working connection with the Transformers franchise, delivering several songs for their films of which ,,The Touch’’ was the most famous one. But he also contributed songs for others movies including a few Jean-Claude Van Damme releases such as ‘Kickboxer’. Even now a few songs (,,Runnin’ The Gauntlet’’ and ,,No Surrender’’) of the current album were used for the 2024 movie ‘The Last Kumite’.

Add to that numerous contributions to TV-shows and video games and it should be clear that Stan Bush is a well-established name in the film and music industry. And let us be honest, his music, voice and sound are just suited for such adventure movies. He has got the right voice, the right pace, the right touch… It is not just a matter of being lucky. It is also about having the ability to deliver the right product and songs for the movie and TV-industry. I think that for Stan Bush that has been a crucial reason for being in the business this long.

STAN BUSH – THE CONCLUSION

With ‘Born For Battle’ Stan Bush delivers an album that is typical for him. The voice is still strong, melodic, and pleasant to hear. The songs have the right amount of smoothness, yet they have just the right amount of sharpness as well. The quality of the songs is just outstanding. It is not that Bush and Fath are doing something completely new here, no, they progress in the same vein as the ‘Dare To Dream’ record. If you know the music of Stan Bush you might even find ‘Born For Battle’ a bit predictable perhaps. But that does not bother me at all. Songs such as ,,Stand Or Fall’’, ,,Brothers In Arms’’, ,,Freedom’’ and all the others are just pitch perfectly played, produced, and sung. Furthermore, all his tracks have a head and a tail.

Bush and Fath are absolute masters of contemporary AOR. They know exactly what they are doing and how far they can go. It is not easy to find the balance between sounding as a rock band and sounding commercial with radio friendly songs. Stan Bush yet again has found the right mix on ‘Born For Battle’, pleasing his fans by giving them what they want to hear. But he also manages to draw interest from a larger audience by this sophisticated approach. As he has been doing all his musical life.

Release date: 5 September 2025