Review Summary: A great follow-up
If Lee Aaron is a one-hit wonder with "Metal Queen", then "Call of the Wild" is her post-hit album, the kind that doesn't have her most famous song on it, but proves she can still make some really good music. This album is just as fun and well-crafted as its predecessor, and it might even be better in some ways.
It follows the same structure as its predecessor: start with a (potential) monster hit, then a softer song, another heavy metal anthem, another ballad, some other metal anthems and end with a generic but fun track with "Rock" in the title. But aside from similarities, the songs themselves are absolutely impressive. "Rock Me All Over" opens the album, and wow, what an opening. It's not about a metal queen, rather about a girl's unrequited love for a rock star, but Lee gives it such great emotion, with her powerful and intense singing. And it has a real monster of a hook. On most of the album, she's always giving it her all, going over the top, making the album feel so epic and energetic. It has some absolutely powerful metal anthems, like "Champion", which might have some of the heaviest riffs her band has ever played, and being one of the most bad ass songs she's ever made.
"Line of Fire is another" fast, over-the-top in the best way kind of track, where she plays a stalker who'll never get tired of chasing you. Just like "Rock Me All Over", it's one of the most impressive tracks on the album. Whatever comes after that will never be as great, but that doesn't mean it will be enjoyable in its own right. "Evil Game" brings some intensity to this heavy track about living in a dangerous world. "Danger Zone" is a pretty fun song about riding at full speed. "Beat'em Up" is another fun, kick-ass song. "Hot to be Rocked" is also pretty catchy.
The best kind of Lee Aaron songs are the heavy, intense ones. Even ballads can be really intense, like the amazing cover of Foghat's "Barely Holdin' On", where Lee's screaming her lungs out as she's singing to this character who's losing everything. The more subdued tracks are not as memorable, but some can ke pretty good, like the power ballad "Paradise", or the very 80s, synth-y "Running From the Fire". However, I don't have a lot to say about "Burning Love", besides that it's a Spider cover, made more Lee Aaron-esque. Fun fact: this album has two covers, and two songs that would later be covered, "Beat'em Up" by Blue Oyster Cult and "Line of Fire" by Rick Cua. That brings us to another interesting fact I've noticed about Lee Aaron's lyrics. "Metal Queen" was clearly written in third person about a girl who kicks ass, but this album has one of her few songs written about a guy in third person ("Danger Zone"). And then, most of her songs are written in first person, or addressed to an unspecified "you". But simply having a woman singing these lyrics about the usual heavy metal tropes feels very groundbreaking, especially since, as proven by Lee covering Foghat and Blue Oyster Cult covering her song, the songs could either be about, or directed to, a man or a woman, and it wouldn't make any difference.
That's the true power of the metal queen: she can sing all the metal clichés from a female perspective, and make it feel just as powerful and fun. And that's because her songs are really good, with great riffs and hooks for days. "Call of the Wild" proves just how many amazing songs she can make. It's clearly her best album, along with "Metal Queen". Sure, it's not the album that featured her big hit, but it still deserves to be remembered. It can also be, unfortunately, celebrated as her last great album. Her following albums still had some good songs, but also a lot of filler. They were much more inconsistent in quality and for the most part, while I like that she can perform in many different genres, I just prefer her metal albums.
