Green Lizard is one of Holland’s most popular bands. Playing all the major festivals here (including Pinkpop and, most recently, Lowlands) and even getting a hit-record (Identity, their previous effort proved not only an artistic success, but also a huge commercial one over here).

Based on the title, one would expect the band touching some new ground here, but don’t worry too much about that: Green Lizard still fuses grunge-like angstfeelings with a huge wall of sound. They do this without losing melody and sometimes pull back and go for a more subtle approach like in the ballad “Erase You” and “Without Me.”

Just as its predecessor, it’s well put together, courtesy of producer Cliff Norell.

It raised my eyebrow just a little when I heard Henry Rollins himself doing guest vocals on the song “Common God.” Sure, it’s nice to see a big name here, but Green Lizard does better on its own, since this song can’t measure up to tracks like “Mouthful” and “Wrong,” the latter being one of the candidates for some hit-parade success.

The subject matter is very personal, and the beautiful artwork reflects this perfectly. Not a big surprise then, that singer Remi is responsible for both. To sum it all up, “Newborn” is a solid and good release that sees the band perfect their musical formula and it wouldn’t surprise me if this becomes just as successful as Identity.