As 2005's mighty impressive Era album skillfully showed, Japan's Bow Wow was arguably still the best-kept secret in the world of hard rock, all of 30 years into their off-and-on career. In fact, ever since he'd managed to reunite three out of four original bandmembers (only founding bassist Kenji Sano declined the invite) about a decade earlier, lead guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto had wisely recommitted himself to, and rarely wavered from, the musical style that launched the band to fame in the first place (2001's all-acoustic offshoot Another Place excluded). So perhaps the only real surprise at this point was Yamamoto's ability to wring fresh ideas and compelling songs from the neck of his trusty six-string -- even though the album's abiding aesthetic remained rooted in decidedly dated ‘80s characteristics. Mind you, not every song here struck a nerve ("Rock Me" and "Liars," for example, are rather dull), but, by and large, exemplary tracks like "The Deal," "Can't Stop Now," and the stunningly heavy ballad "One Way Love" definitely gave Bow Wow fans what they wanted. Meanwhile Yamamoto's personal interpretation of Van Halen's brown sound on "Fallen Angel," "Tycoon" (which also boasts an unexpected flamenco break), and many others could have really eased the pain for many of VH's abandoned followers, had they actually got wind of Bow Wow's existence. At the end of the day, maybe all this just proved that nothing is truly dated in rock & roll so long as the artist in question knows what he's doing with the form, and Bow Wow unquestionably have that angle cornered where classic hard rock is concerned.