Having already mastered the groin-punch assault of hard rock, creative ambitions left the band RaZoR restless, yearning to explore other musical styles. On its debut album, Thunder in a Bottle, the Vancouver, B.C.-based duo of vocalist/guitarist Ray Roper and drummer Jo Ziccardo let its artistry run wild. From the bluesy melancholy of "Baby Don't Cry" and the ZZ Top-ish fuzz bomb "Good Girls" to the Pink Floyd-esque dreamy introspection of "Lost in Time" and the Adult Alternative mid-tempo groove of "Back in My Arms," RaZoR refuse to be easily categorized.

RaZoR uses fist-pumping rock and roll as a foundation for its sonic versatility. However, RaZoR's definition of rock has its roots in the stadium-filling power metal of the '80s, when choruses were big enough to wrap around the globe and catchy as an infectious disease but tasty as cotton candy. While most of today's so-called "new metal" acts limit their range to repetitive, deafening road kill-scraping riffs and Cookie Monster vocals, RaZoR aren't afraid to inject loud, crunchy rock and roll with soaring saxophones and lush keyboards. Two decades ago, before prog became extinct on AOR stations, the eclecticism of RaZoR probably wouldn't have cut so deeply, but in the context of today's narrow-minded rock-radio programming, it deserves wide applause.

During the '70s and '80s, Roper was the guitarist for the Grammy-nominated Stonebolt, garnering a Top-30 smash with the single, "I Will Still Love You." Ziccardo was a member of Pegasus and managed nightclubs in Vancouver, including The Embassy. Together they resurrect a classic-rock sensibility to the head-banger genre, bringing back the youthful exuberance and explosive color of being in a rock band.