2023 Album Reviews
(highlighted text within reviews links to YouTube clips or web-pages, etc.)
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(highlighted text within reviews links to YouTube clips or web-pages, etc.)
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King Falcon – King Falcon
King Falcon – Michael Rubin (lead vocals, guitars), James Terranova (bass) and Tom Diognardi (drums) – carry all the garage/ pop-punk/ indie rock sensibilities you might expect from a young guns band out of Queens, NYC.
There are also obvious and noticeable influences, such as The Black Keys, Jack White, The Strokes and a touch of The Killers, but that the band manage to blend all such influences into a modern and fresh Indie-vibed sound is a testament to how serious they take their craft.
Nor does it hurt that the album was produced by Marshall Altman (Tom Morello, Frank Ballard, Matt Nathanson) and mixed by the 12-time Grammy nominated Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragon, Fleetwood Mac).
The choppy guitar work and catchy harmony chorus of indie-rock meets pop-punk opener 'Everybody’s Down' sets the musical tone and lyrical purpose of both band and album, which stems from songwriter Michael Rubin’s overview (and, one imagines, semi-autobiographical perspective) of the outcast; the weird kid that doesn’t fit the norm, looking for a way out via, in this case, a guitar and a rock 'n' roll dream.
If 'Everybody’s Down' was the musical foreword or album intro, 'Ready Set Go,' which follows, is the album’s true kick-off point; a punchy, punky, high-energy statement of intent and salute to the lives and urban landscape of NYC.
The bass driven, funky-pop of 'Cadillac' could be an ode to driving around Queens in an eye-catching ride, and, indeed, pretty much is (Rubin having had the opportunity to drive a friend’s 1957 Eldorado Cadillac around his neighbourhood). "Ooh, I got the top down!" croons Rubin, living every classic car lover’s dream.
'Set Me Free' drops the pace and tempo (as such it becomes one of the more interesting songs on the album) whilst also returning to the lyrical theme; that theme is then reinforced on the empowering 'Rabbit Gets The Gun,' an electro-pop backed, bass and drums driven shout to "tables turning" and taking control.
The mid-tempo 'Soul Sucker' flirts with reggae (but within an Indie/ Garage shell) before the faster paced 'Ride' announces itself as one of the album’s poppiest and most infectious moments.
Contrast then comes by way of the darker, Indie-blues rock of 'My Name Is' (a true highlight) before the slightly angular and rhythmic 'Touch' adds yet another colour.
'On Your Soul' is another highlight, a pop-tastic slice of dreamy verses (and a deceptively tricky rhythm part from Messrs Terranova & Diognardi) and emphatic, quick-drilled choruses.
Reflective and down-tempo album closer 'Go On' might be as far away from NYC as you can get (bluesy and southern undertones) but it’s yet another winner, showcasing another side of the band.
Indie-rock short and pop-punk sharp (11 songs, 32 minutes, job done), King Falcon musically and lyrically encapsulates a band of young friends looking to achieve that aforementioned rock and roll dream.
Whether their dreams are realised remains to be seen, but on this outing, and in outlook, they are clearly going to have a lot of fun wherever the journey takes them.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase at: https://lnk.to/kingfalcon?mc_cid=c93927cdea&mc_eid=UNIQID
There are also obvious and noticeable influences, such as The Black Keys, Jack White, The Strokes and a touch of The Killers, but that the band manage to blend all such influences into a modern and fresh Indie-vibed sound is a testament to how serious they take their craft.
Nor does it hurt that the album was produced by Marshall Altman (Tom Morello, Frank Ballard, Matt Nathanson) and mixed by the 12-time Grammy nominated Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragon, Fleetwood Mac).
The choppy guitar work and catchy harmony chorus of indie-rock meets pop-punk opener 'Everybody’s Down' sets the musical tone and lyrical purpose of both band and album, which stems from songwriter Michael Rubin’s overview (and, one imagines, semi-autobiographical perspective) of the outcast; the weird kid that doesn’t fit the norm, looking for a way out via, in this case, a guitar and a rock 'n' roll dream.
If 'Everybody’s Down' was the musical foreword or album intro, 'Ready Set Go,' which follows, is the album’s true kick-off point; a punchy, punky, high-energy statement of intent and salute to the lives and urban landscape of NYC.
The bass driven, funky-pop of 'Cadillac' could be an ode to driving around Queens in an eye-catching ride, and, indeed, pretty much is (Rubin having had the opportunity to drive a friend’s 1957 Eldorado Cadillac around his neighbourhood). "Ooh, I got the top down!" croons Rubin, living every classic car lover’s dream.
'Set Me Free' drops the pace and tempo (as such it becomes one of the more interesting songs on the album) whilst also returning to the lyrical theme; that theme is then reinforced on the empowering 'Rabbit Gets The Gun,' an electro-pop backed, bass and drums driven shout to "tables turning" and taking control.
The mid-tempo 'Soul Sucker' flirts with reggae (but within an Indie/ Garage shell) before the faster paced 'Ride' announces itself as one of the album’s poppiest and most infectious moments.
Contrast then comes by way of the darker, Indie-blues rock of 'My Name Is' (a true highlight) before the slightly angular and rhythmic 'Touch' adds yet another colour.
'On Your Soul' is another highlight, a pop-tastic slice of dreamy verses (and a deceptively tricky rhythm part from Messrs Terranova & Diognardi) and emphatic, quick-drilled choruses.
Reflective and down-tempo album closer 'Go On' might be as far away from NYC as you can get (bluesy and southern undertones) but it’s yet another winner, showcasing another side of the band.
Indie-rock short and pop-punk sharp (11 songs, 32 minutes, job done), King Falcon musically and lyrically encapsulates a band of young friends looking to achieve that aforementioned rock and roll dream.
Whether their dreams are realised remains to be seen, but on this outing, and in outlook, they are clearly going to have a lot of fun wherever the journey takes them.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase at: https://lnk.to/kingfalcon?mc_cid=c93927cdea&mc_eid=UNIQID
Beatrix Players – Living & Alive
"Everything changes, nothing remains the same…"
A lot can happen in six years, just look at the world around us and how much it has changed since Magnified by the Beatrix Players was released in 2017.
A lot has also happened in the life of Beatrix Players vocalist and cornerstone, Amy Birks; perhaps not surprising then that we also find quite a few changes within new offering, Living & Alive.
With the three-piece version of the Beatrix Players seemingly on permanent hiatus, Birks has reconnected with her co-writers from the original iteration of the band, Tom Manning and Helena Dove; she has also surrounded herself with an extraordinarily talented group of musicians who all seem keenly attuned to her musical style, yet each brings something unique to the overall sound.
Which begs the question, is Living & Alive radically different from Magnified?
The answer to that is yes… but also no.
At the heart of Living & Alive is the same core sound that has been present since the foundation of the band, namely the inter-play between piano and cello (provided here by the excellent Matthew Lumb and Jane Felton, respectively) – indeed the likes of delicate opener 'Snowflakes' and 'You Can't Hit a Nail' can be seen, or rather heard, as a continuation, or an extension, of Magnified.
It is this inter-play that ensures there is a comforting and familiar structure that threads its way through the album, from start to finish (the same sound is at the heart of Amy Birks' solo albums, 2020’s All That I Am & All That I Was and last year’s In Our Souls).
We also have, of course, the constant throughout all iterations of the band, Amy Birks herself.
The current prog scene is extremely blessed to have some extraordinary, gifted female singers (Chrissy Mostyn, Ebony Buckle, Hayley Griffiths, to name but three), and one of the absolute finest is Amy Birks who, on this album, delivers everything we expect from her, and more.
Living & Alive is a genteel, delicate affair, the musical equivalent of a delightful countryside picnic on a summer’s day. Amy Birks, with her musical palette, creates sweeping, expansive soundscapes that are a wonderful and enthralling experience.
But don’t let the delicacy of the music fool you into thinking the album is in anyway twee – for example there’s the rhythmic 'Start Again' with its up-tempo beat (and therefore natural choice as a single release), while 'This Is Your life' has an almost Renaissance quality to it.
Steely natured, hard hitting lyrics also abound, such as the anger that underlies 'Purgatory,' a song about the psychological abuse of a child (the vocals and lyric are, however, delivered sensitively).
In allegorical summary, if the original Beatrix Players recordings, and in turn Magnified, were the initial charcoal outlines and black & white sketches, Living & Alive represents a beautiful watercolour of soft pastels, deft shading and delightful touches.
And credit to the additional members of the band that provide those pastel variations, with special mention for the sensitive and enthralling flute played by John Hackett and the acoustic and electric guitar work of Oliver Day and Tom Manning.
For anyone who has a penchant for soft, almost semi-classical progressive music, Living & Alive is a must.
James Barry
FabricationsHQ
A lot can happen in six years, just look at the world around us and how much it has changed since Magnified by the Beatrix Players was released in 2017.
A lot has also happened in the life of Beatrix Players vocalist and cornerstone, Amy Birks; perhaps not surprising then that we also find quite a few changes within new offering, Living & Alive.
With the three-piece version of the Beatrix Players seemingly on permanent hiatus, Birks has reconnected with her co-writers from the original iteration of the band, Tom Manning and Helena Dove; she has also surrounded herself with an extraordinarily talented group of musicians who all seem keenly attuned to her musical style, yet each brings something unique to the overall sound.
Which begs the question, is Living & Alive radically different from Magnified?
The answer to that is yes… but also no.
At the heart of Living & Alive is the same core sound that has been present since the foundation of the band, namely the inter-play between piano and cello (provided here by the excellent Matthew Lumb and Jane Felton, respectively) – indeed the likes of delicate opener 'Snowflakes' and 'You Can't Hit a Nail' can be seen, or rather heard, as a continuation, or an extension, of Magnified.
It is this inter-play that ensures there is a comforting and familiar structure that threads its way through the album, from start to finish (the same sound is at the heart of Amy Birks' solo albums, 2020’s All That I Am & All That I Was and last year’s In Our Souls).
We also have, of course, the constant throughout all iterations of the band, Amy Birks herself.
The current prog scene is extremely blessed to have some extraordinary, gifted female singers (Chrissy Mostyn, Ebony Buckle, Hayley Griffiths, to name but three), and one of the absolute finest is Amy Birks who, on this album, delivers everything we expect from her, and more.
Living & Alive is a genteel, delicate affair, the musical equivalent of a delightful countryside picnic on a summer’s day. Amy Birks, with her musical palette, creates sweeping, expansive soundscapes that are a wonderful and enthralling experience.
But don’t let the delicacy of the music fool you into thinking the album is in anyway twee – for example there’s the rhythmic 'Start Again' with its up-tempo beat (and therefore natural choice as a single release), while 'This Is Your life' has an almost Renaissance quality to it.
Steely natured, hard hitting lyrics also abound, such as the anger that underlies 'Purgatory,' a song about the psychological abuse of a child (the vocals and lyric are, however, delivered sensitively).
In allegorical summary, if the original Beatrix Players recordings, and in turn Magnified, were the initial charcoal outlines and black & white sketches, Living & Alive represents a beautiful watercolour of soft pastels, deft shading and delightful touches.
And credit to the additional members of the band that provide those pastel variations, with special mention for the sensitive and enthralling flute played by John Hackett and the acoustic and electric guitar work of Oliver Day and Tom Manning.
For anyone who has a penchant for soft, almost semi-classical progressive music, Living & Alive is a must.
James Barry
FabricationsHQ
Glenn Hughes & Robin George – Overcome
Overcome is well-named.
Originally to be titled Sweet Revenge, this never officially released gem from Glenn Hughes and Robin George has a three decades old back-story that’s as interesting as the album is excellent.
In the late 80s Glenn Hughes added some backing vocals to the Notorious album Radio Silence, featuring Robin George and ex Diamond Head singer Sean Harris (Radio Silence sadly suffered at the out-of-touch hands of record moguls until seeing a deserved release much later in life).
Impressed with what Robin George was coming up with, Hughes asked his fellow West Midlands musician what else he might have – suddenly George’s next solo album was looking like it would feature The Voice Of Rock.
However what should have been a dream come true for Robin George became an unofficially released nightmare.
Initial recordings at Robin George’s Kitchen Sink Studios in 1989 went exceptionally well, but when it came time to lay it all down at Ridge Farm studios the next year, for major label release, the results weren’t so good.
Factor in the deal between the UK & US companies concerned ending acrimoniously, and you have the plug officially pulled on an album that promised so much but never delivered – nor did it deliver in 2008 when the album was bootlegged and released in not second rate but third rate, unmixed, low quality MP3 fashion.
Fifteen years on from that bootlegged embarrassment however, Robin George has given the original Kitchen Sink Studios recordings the restoration care and mixing attention they deserve (bolstered by a great remastering job from Klaus Bohlmann).
From the melodically framed rock charm of opener ‘Flying’ (one of a number of songs Robin George would revisit for later solo albums) to edgier and angular album closer ‘War Dance’ (which would have sat comfortably on George’s Dangerous Music of the 80s), this is an album that has indeed Overcome the odds.
It’s also an album that covers all the bases, or more accurately basses, as well and guitars, keys and drum machine parts, courtesy of Robin George (who also produced the album).
Aside from the Dangerous Music styled numbers – the aforementioned 'War Dance,' the T-Rex meets hard pop-rock of 'I Want' (featuring Daniel Boone on backing vocals), the melodic light and rockin’ shade of ‘Don‘t Come Crying’ (which cleverly drops the phrase "dangerous music" into the chorus; Glenn Hughes belting out "I still hear Burn!" Is another nice touch) – there’s the funkier, almost Philly soul rock of the title track (Glenn Hughes doing his best Stevie Wonder) and lovely, slow-dance ballad 'Haunted.'
The latter (one of two co-writes with Daniel Boone) is not the Kitchen Sink Studios version but a later session from Dangerous Music Studios in Bridgnorth; it also features Glenn Hughes' original Trapeze band-mates Mel Galley, Dave Holland and Terry Rowley.
Another from a later session is 'Loving You.' This version, recorded live as a stripped back acoustic & vocal performance, was recorded at Nomis Studio in London where final overdubs for the album were being done.
Elsewhere the hard-edged 'Number One' (one of four Hughes-George co-writes) allows The Voice of Rock to give it the full Glenn, while songs such as 'Sweet Revenge' and 'The American Way' rock the funk, and funk the rock, respectively.
The thirteen track album is completed by 'Machine' (one of the best songs Prince never did), the melodic pop of 'Steal My Heart' and 'Things Have Gotta Change,' an endearing piece of synth-strings soft-rock that no album featuring Robin George should be without (and seldom is).
Overcome is a long awaited win-win.
Not only is it an excellent album that showcases Glenn Hughes in fine voice (recorded between his then addictive issues) fronting some of Robin George’s best material, it’s also a case of Sweet Revenge on the bootleg betrayers.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Overcome will be released on Cherry Red Records’ HNE label on 24th November.
Pre-order: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/glenn-hughes-and-robin-george-overcome-cd/
Originally to be titled Sweet Revenge, this never officially released gem from Glenn Hughes and Robin George has a three decades old back-story that’s as interesting as the album is excellent.
In the late 80s Glenn Hughes added some backing vocals to the Notorious album Radio Silence, featuring Robin George and ex Diamond Head singer Sean Harris (Radio Silence sadly suffered at the out-of-touch hands of record moguls until seeing a deserved release much later in life).
Impressed with what Robin George was coming up with, Hughes asked his fellow West Midlands musician what else he might have – suddenly George’s next solo album was looking like it would feature The Voice Of Rock.
However what should have been a dream come true for Robin George became an unofficially released nightmare.
Initial recordings at Robin George’s Kitchen Sink Studios in 1989 went exceptionally well, but when it came time to lay it all down at Ridge Farm studios the next year, for major label release, the results weren’t so good.
Factor in the deal between the UK & US companies concerned ending acrimoniously, and you have the plug officially pulled on an album that promised so much but never delivered – nor did it deliver in 2008 when the album was bootlegged and released in not second rate but third rate, unmixed, low quality MP3 fashion.
Fifteen years on from that bootlegged embarrassment however, Robin George has given the original Kitchen Sink Studios recordings the restoration care and mixing attention they deserve (bolstered by a great remastering job from Klaus Bohlmann).
From the melodically framed rock charm of opener ‘Flying’ (one of a number of songs Robin George would revisit for later solo albums) to edgier and angular album closer ‘War Dance’ (which would have sat comfortably on George’s Dangerous Music of the 80s), this is an album that has indeed Overcome the odds.
It’s also an album that covers all the bases, or more accurately basses, as well and guitars, keys and drum machine parts, courtesy of Robin George (who also produced the album).
Aside from the Dangerous Music styled numbers – the aforementioned 'War Dance,' the T-Rex meets hard pop-rock of 'I Want' (featuring Daniel Boone on backing vocals), the melodic light and rockin’ shade of ‘Don‘t Come Crying’ (which cleverly drops the phrase "dangerous music" into the chorus; Glenn Hughes belting out "I still hear Burn!" Is another nice touch) – there’s the funkier, almost Philly soul rock of the title track (Glenn Hughes doing his best Stevie Wonder) and lovely, slow-dance ballad 'Haunted.'
The latter (one of two co-writes with Daniel Boone) is not the Kitchen Sink Studios version but a later session from Dangerous Music Studios in Bridgnorth; it also features Glenn Hughes' original Trapeze band-mates Mel Galley, Dave Holland and Terry Rowley.
Another from a later session is 'Loving You.' This version, recorded live as a stripped back acoustic & vocal performance, was recorded at Nomis Studio in London where final overdubs for the album were being done.
Elsewhere the hard-edged 'Number One' (one of four Hughes-George co-writes) allows The Voice of Rock to give it the full Glenn, while songs such as 'Sweet Revenge' and 'The American Way' rock the funk, and funk the rock, respectively.
The thirteen track album is completed by 'Machine' (one of the best songs Prince never did), the melodic pop of 'Steal My Heart' and 'Things Have Gotta Change,' an endearing piece of synth-strings soft-rock that no album featuring Robin George should be without (and seldom is).
Overcome is a long awaited win-win.
Not only is it an excellent album that showcases Glenn Hughes in fine voice (recorded between his then addictive issues) fronting some of Robin George’s best material, it’s also a case of Sweet Revenge on the bootleg betrayers.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Overcome will be released on Cherry Red Records’ HNE label on 24th November.
Pre-order: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/glenn-hughes-and-robin-george-overcome-cd/
The Anchoress – Versions
Highly creative art-pop songstress The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) has brought her own artistry to bear on other people’s work with Versions, a reworking (and in some places a complete reimaging) of ten, well considered choices from the catalogue of the likes of The Cure, New Order, Radiohead and Nirvana.
Opener 'Enjoy The Silence' is more downtempo and ethereal than the electropop original by Depeche Mode, but also underlines that a great song can still be a great song, even with a very different arrangement or interpretation. (Across the entire alum TA has an inherent sense of just what can be done, and what she can do, reverentially, to ensure any reworking still has musical merit, and impact).
New Order’s 'Bizarre Love Triangle' retains 80s-pop appeal but here is more bass pumping than punchy synths and sharp beats (it’s a subtle shift that allows for a nod to the original while creating a slightly different, and slightly softer, result).
The atmospheric and rhythmic 'Climbing Up The Walls,' coupled with TA’s captivating delivery (if there’s such a thing as a "lonely" vocal, she’s pretty much nailed it here) is akin to a bluesy voice meeting rhythmic art-rock, as opposed to the slightly disturbing dark-rock of the Radiohead original.
'Friday I’m In Love' and 'Pennyroyal Tea' differ greatly from the originals - The Cure’s jangly alt-pop classic and Nirvana’s grunge-metal number (also famously performed unplugged) are reworked as atmospheric, downtempo ballads. Both work equally well, led by TA’s plaintive vocality.
Jackson Browne’s oft-covered 'These Days' is a delightful vocal and acoustic interpretation that takes its stripped back lead from the Nico (aka Christa Päffgen) version but ,vocally (both in timbre and phrasing), reminds this listener & reviewer of Karen Carpenter in beautifully reflective mood (no bad thing).
Similarly singer-songwriter & acoustic based are 'Martha’s Harbour' (which stays faithful to the All About Eve original) and 'This Is Yesterday' by the Manic Street Preachers; both carry delicate arrangements and beautiful vocal leads.
The latter is particularly noteworthy given TA’s love of the Manics and the fact she guested/ duetted with the band during their 2023 Isle of Wight and Glastonbury sets (including on this very song).
'The Tradition,' by highly individualistic American singer-songwriter Halsey, carries a subtler undercurrent than the original (there's an almost folk-like ambience) before the album closes out on the organ-keyboard backed 'Sweetness Follows,' which retains the almost hymnal essence of the R.E.M. original.
(The latter’s electric guitar interjections are, however, replaced with subtler sonic treatments).
Versions isn’t just an imaginative and thoughtful covers album in terms of song choice, arrangements and performance values, Miss Davies has also given serious consideration to final product & packaging.
The very limited (1000 copies) signed Eco-Mix vinyl version (created by recycling offcuts/ leftover wax pellets from other pressings, making each unique) is environmentally friendly, while the signed gatefold CD version comes with a 12 page booklet and an exclusive additional bonus track.
But whichever of those Versions you should pick (available, as is digital download, from Bandcamp) you are on to a creatively crafted winner, one that acts as a nice covers-companion piece to the self-penned artistry of critically acclaimed brace Confessions of a Romance Novelist and The Art of Losing.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Opener 'Enjoy The Silence' is more downtempo and ethereal than the electropop original by Depeche Mode, but also underlines that a great song can still be a great song, even with a very different arrangement or interpretation. (Across the entire alum TA has an inherent sense of just what can be done, and what she can do, reverentially, to ensure any reworking still has musical merit, and impact).
New Order’s 'Bizarre Love Triangle' retains 80s-pop appeal but here is more bass pumping than punchy synths and sharp beats (it’s a subtle shift that allows for a nod to the original while creating a slightly different, and slightly softer, result).
The atmospheric and rhythmic 'Climbing Up The Walls,' coupled with TA’s captivating delivery (if there’s such a thing as a "lonely" vocal, she’s pretty much nailed it here) is akin to a bluesy voice meeting rhythmic art-rock, as opposed to the slightly disturbing dark-rock of the Radiohead original.
'Friday I’m In Love' and 'Pennyroyal Tea' differ greatly from the originals - The Cure’s jangly alt-pop classic and Nirvana’s grunge-metal number (also famously performed unplugged) are reworked as atmospheric, downtempo ballads. Both work equally well, led by TA’s plaintive vocality.
Jackson Browne’s oft-covered 'These Days' is a delightful vocal and acoustic interpretation that takes its stripped back lead from the Nico (aka Christa Päffgen) version but ,vocally (both in timbre and phrasing), reminds this listener & reviewer of Karen Carpenter in beautifully reflective mood (no bad thing).
Similarly singer-songwriter & acoustic based are 'Martha’s Harbour' (which stays faithful to the All About Eve original) and 'This Is Yesterday' by the Manic Street Preachers; both carry delicate arrangements and beautiful vocal leads.
The latter is particularly noteworthy given TA’s love of the Manics and the fact she guested/ duetted with the band during their 2023 Isle of Wight and Glastonbury sets (including on this very song).
'The Tradition,' by highly individualistic American singer-songwriter Halsey, carries a subtler undercurrent than the original (there's an almost folk-like ambience) before the album closes out on the organ-keyboard backed 'Sweetness Follows,' which retains the almost hymnal essence of the R.E.M. original.
(The latter’s electric guitar interjections are, however, replaced with subtler sonic treatments).
Versions isn’t just an imaginative and thoughtful covers album in terms of song choice, arrangements and performance values, Miss Davies has also given serious consideration to final product & packaging.
The very limited (1000 copies) signed Eco-Mix vinyl version (created by recycling offcuts/ leftover wax pellets from other pressings, making each unique) is environmentally friendly, while the signed gatefold CD version comes with a 12 page booklet and an exclusive additional bonus track.
But whichever of those Versions you should pick (available, as is digital download, from Bandcamp) you are on to a creatively crafted winner, one that acts as a nice covers-companion piece to the self-penned artistry of critically acclaimed brace Confessions of a Romance Novelist and The Art of Losing.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Brian Setzer – The Devil Always Collects
Brian Setzer, after a seven year wait for last solo album Gotta Have the Rumble, has delivered in back-to-back years with back-to-back rockabilly winners.
Gotta Have the Rumble was well named; studded with Setzer’s trademark rockabilly 'n' roll (plus a song entitled 'Rockabilly Banjo' that did exactly what it says on the tin), it also had plenty of rumblin’ rhythm and groove attached.
The Devil Always Collects, while sticking to the tried and formula (hey, if the rockabilly ain’t broke) is, however, far more than the second part of a double album one year later; this time around Brian Setzer offers up a more up-tempo "rockabilly riot" of an album (thus dovetailing with Setzer’s similarly named fall tour of the US) – one that’s hell bent on ensuring we all have a devil of a good time.
(Produced by Brian Setzer & Julian Raymond, and featuring a great mix from Chris Lord-Alge, the songs on the album also sound as good as they’re performed).
From the rubber stamped 50s rockabilly of opener 'Rock Boys Rock,' built atop a fast train track drum rhythm and a couple of seriously nifty solos from Brian Setzer (lest we forget Setzer isn’t a good guitarist, he’s an exceptional one), to finger snappin' closer 'One Particular Chick' (a lowered key mid-tempo that oozes swing-blues pizazz), Setzer’s latest solo offering puts itself forward as one of his best.
And that’s because the nine tracks sitting between the great opener and cool closer are of equal stature.
The punkabilly title track (with a semi-spooky vocal chorus) rattles down the freight train tracks faster than 'Rock Boys Rock,' while the bass pumping cover of 60s number 'Girl On The Billboard' (made famous by Dan Reeves) is a rockabilly and roll nod to those giant eye-catching posters of yesteryear that led to highway wrecks "caused by the girl wearing nothin’ but a smile and a towel…"
The bluesy 'The Living Dead' is another that carries a little spookiness, here through its mid-tempo shuffle and "those that live without a love" lyricism, before rockabilly jive comes jumping on What’ll It Be Baby Doll?
Following number 'Black Leather Jacket' is melodic rock and roll ode to that very item of iconic clothing; as such it’s a great fit (sorry) for both the vibe of the album and Brian Setzer’s storytelling lyricism.
Elsewhere 'She’s Got a Lotta…Soul' is a honky-tonk styled rocker that’s got some sauce to it (courtesy of some sassy female backing); 'Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)' is old-school, bass plucking, piano tinkling rock and roll; 'A Dude’ll Do (What a Dude’ll Do)' is the most fun song on the album, courtesy of its tongue twisting chorus.
The latter is also a number that could have sat comfortably on the Stray Cats 2019 album 40, as could 'Psycho Suzie,' which reprises the freight train rhythm and rockabilly roll fun of 'Rock Boys Rock' and the album’s title track.
The Devil Always Collects.
And three-time Grammy Award winner Brian Setzer, whether as a Stray Cat, swinging with the 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, or as a solo performer, always delivers.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Gotta Have the Rumble was well named; studded with Setzer’s trademark rockabilly 'n' roll (plus a song entitled 'Rockabilly Banjo' that did exactly what it says on the tin), it also had plenty of rumblin’ rhythm and groove attached.
The Devil Always Collects, while sticking to the tried and formula (hey, if the rockabilly ain’t broke) is, however, far more than the second part of a double album one year later; this time around Brian Setzer offers up a more up-tempo "rockabilly riot" of an album (thus dovetailing with Setzer’s similarly named fall tour of the US) – one that’s hell bent on ensuring we all have a devil of a good time.
(Produced by Brian Setzer & Julian Raymond, and featuring a great mix from Chris Lord-Alge, the songs on the album also sound as good as they’re performed).
From the rubber stamped 50s rockabilly of opener 'Rock Boys Rock,' built atop a fast train track drum rhythm and a couple of seriously nifty solos from Brian Setzer (lest we forget Setzer isn’t a good guitarist, he’s an exceptional one), to finger snappin' closer 'One Particular Chick' (a lowered key mid-tempo that oozes swing-blues pizazz), Setzer’s latest solo offering puts itself forward as one of his best.
And that’s because the nine tracks sitting between the great opener and cool closer are of equal stature.
The punkabilly title track (with a semi-spooky vocal chorus) rattles down the freight train tracks faster than 'Rock Boys Rock,' while the bass pumping cover of 60s number 'Girl On The Billboard' (made famous by Dan Reeves) is a rockabilly and roll nod to those giant eye-catching posters of yesteryear that led to highway wrecks "caused by the girl wearing nothin’ but a smile and a towel…"
The bluesy 'The Living Dead' is another that carries a little spookiness, here through its mid-tempo shuffle and "those that live without a love" lyricism, before rockabilly jive comes jumping on What’ll It Be Baby Doll?
Following number 'Black Leather Jacket' is melodic rock and roll ode to that very item of iconic clothing; as such it’s a great fit (sorry) for both the vibe of the album and Brian Setzer’s storytelling lyricism.
Elsewhere 'She’s Got a Lotta…Soul' is a honky-tonk styled rocker that’s got some sauce to it (courtesy of some sassy female backing); 'Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)' is old-school, bass plucking, piano tinkling rock and roll; 'A Dude’ll Do (What a Dude’ll Do)' is the most fun song on the album, courtesy of its tongue twisting chorus.
The latter is also a number that could have sat comfortably on the Stray Cats 2019 album 40, as could 'Psycho Suzie,' which reprises the freight train rhythm and rockabilly roll fun of 'Rock Boys Rock' and the album’s title track.
The Devil Always Collects.
And three-time Grammy Award winner Brian Setzer, whether as a Stray Cat, swinging with the 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, or as a solo performer, always delivers.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Lachy Doley – A World Worth Fighting For
Hammond and Whammy Clavinet maestro Lachy Doley is a highly animated and seriously impressive e live performer.
But over the last 12 years and now six studio albums, the acclaimed Australian musician has also, soulfully (with a heavy dose of blues, funk and pop) and most assuredly, been mastering his studio craft.
Each studio album has had something to offer as well as continuing Lachy Doley’s growth as a songwriter and, what was initially his weak point, his lead vocal.
The musically culminated results were Doley’s best studio album of all-new material to date with the release in 2019 of Make Or Break (2020’s Double Figures was a compilation of earlier cuts with two new recordings).
However with A World Worth Fighting For he hasn’t just bettered Make Or Break, he’s seriously upped his game in terms of songwriting and, perhaps more importantly, arrangements.
That something special was in the Australian blues & soul air was apparent with the release of the title track as a pre-album taster.
On first listen, one could be forgiven for thinking Lachy Doley was struggling to give 'A World Worth Fighting For' the strong vocal it needed, but his impassioned, slightly foreboding delivery on the Hammond and mellotron backed intro only empowers the plea of the song, a heartfelt cry to do more to tackle climate change.
From that scene setting intro the song blossoms into a horn backed, slow-soul-mover with a touch of funk, a wonderful groove (courtesy of bassist Joel Burton and drummer Jackie Barnes), and soulfully delivered backing vocals from Mahalia Barnes, Jade Macrae, Bek Jensen and Karen Lee Andrews.
So important is the message, and soulfully impacting the arrangement (an uplifting, soul-funky experience), it’s perhaps no surprise 'A World Worth Fighting For' also bookends/ closes out the album.
The longer second version flexes its grooving muscles on an extended instrumental finale featuring some tasty bass lines from Joel Burton and some earthy (natch) Hammond work from Lachy Doley, before a sci-fi-funky conclusion.
Not to be outdone, the six-song core of the album holds up its end (or rather middle) by offering up some of the best songs Lachy Doley has yet written and recorded.
'These Words,' a near eight-minute melancholic blues, can be complimented by stating it’s probably the best slow-blues Gary Moore never did, to the extent that you may find yourself looking to the album credits to see who delivers the over-arching and distinctly Moore-esque lead lines and excellent solo before realising it’s all Lachy Doley and the mastery he has of his Whammy Clav.
It’s a stunningly impressive display of Doley’s skills with the instrument.
By contrast 'Get Out Your Ear’s Way,' featuring American four-string funkster and singer Bootsy Collins is, indeed, fully Bootsy-fied with its hip-hop slant, accompanying horns and interjected "yeah yeah!" backing vocals. Cosmic funk, baby.
'Don’t Beat Yourself Up' is a bass-driven soul-blues that reminds of Ray Charles in a more modern setting.
Lachy Doley is in fine vocal, Hammond and piano form here, supported by a strong and measured use of the backing vocalists.
'Gone,' like 'These Words,' is another longer form blues (clocking in at seven-and-a-half minutes).
Musically weightier than 'These Words' but with a great use of light and shade, 'Gone' features a mix of full bodied and subtler/ sadder Hammond play (and a fabulous solo) from Lachy Doley over a lock-down tight rhythmic groove.
Two song styles that no Lachy Doley album should be without complete the eight track album.
'My Own Medicine' is the rattling piano rock and soul-pop roll moment of the album, while the mid-tempo and soul-funky 'Money' is the musician in familiar and well-loved Lachy Doley Group trio mode - keyboards to the fore, big splashes of Hammond and a simple but effective repeating rhythm to play over.
As Lachy Doley passionately reinforces, this is a world worth fighting for.
As the album also reinforces, Lachy Doley is a musician hitting the top of his soulful blues and funkily sprinkled game.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Head to Lachy Doley's Bandcamp or Bandcamp Shop pages to purchase A World Worth Fighting For (including Limited Edition Blue Vinyl) and previous albums:
https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/
https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/album/a-world-worth-fighting-for-2
But over the last 12 years and now six studio albums, the acclaimed Australian musician has also, soulfully (with a heavy dose of blues, funk and pop) and most assuredly, been mastering his studio craft.
Each studio album has had something to offer as well as continuing Lachy Doley’s growth as a songwriter and, what was initially his weak point, his lead vocal.
The musically culminated results were Doley’s best studio album of all-new material to date with the release in 2019 of Make Or Break (2020’s Double Figures was a compilation of earlier cuts with two new recordings).
However with A World Worth Fighting For he hasn’t just bettered Make Or Break, he’s seriously upped his game in terms of songwriting and, perhaps more importantly, arrangements.
That something special was in the Australian blues & soul air was apparent with the release of the title track as a pre-album taster.
On first listen, one could be forgiven for thinking Lachy Doley was struggling to give 'A World Worth Fighting For' the strong vocal it needed, but his impassioned, slightly foreboding delivery on the Hammond and mellotron backed intro only empowers the plea of the song, a heartfelt cry to do more to tackle climate change.
From that scene setting intro the song blossoms into a horn backed, slow-soul-mover with a touch of funk, a wonderful groove (courtesy of bassist Joel Burton and drummer Jackie Barnes), and soulfully delivered backing vocals from Mahalia Barnes, Jade Macrae, Bek Jensen and Karen Lee Andrews.
So important is the message, and soulfully impacting the arrangement (an uplifting, soul-funky experience), it’s perhaps no surprise 'A World Worth Fighting For' also bookends/ closes out the album.
The longer second version flexes its grooving muscles on an extended instrumental finale featuring some tasty bass lines from Joel Burton and some earthy (natch) Hammond work from Lachy Doley, before a sci-fi-funky conclusion.
Not to be outdone, the six-song core of the album holds up its end (or rather middle) by offering up some of the best songs Lachy Doley has yet written and recorded.
'These Words,' a near eight-minute melancholic blues, can be complimented by stating it’s probably the best slow-blues Gary Moore never did, to the extent that you may find yourself looking to the album credits to see who delivers the over-arching and distinctly Moore-esque lead lines and excellent solo before realising it’s all Lachy Doley and the mastery he has of his Whammy Clav.
It’s a stunningly impressive display of Doley’s skills with the instrument.
By contrast 'Get Out Your Ear’s Way,' featuring American four-string funkster and singer Bootsy Collins is, indeed, fully Bootsy-fied with its hip-hop slant, accompanying horns and interjected "yeah yeah!" backing vocals. Cosmic funk, baby.
'Don’t Beat Yourself Up' is a bass-driven soul-blues that reminds of Ray Charles in a more modern setting.
Lachy Doley is in fine vocal, Hammond and piano form here, supported by a strong and measured use of the backing vocalists.
'Gone,' like 'These Words,' is another longer form blues (clocking in at seven-and-a-half minutes).
Musically weightier than 'These Words' but with a great use of light and shade, 'Gone' features a mix of full bodied and subtler/ sadder Hammond play (and a fabulous solo) from Lachy Doley over a lock-down tight rhythmic groove.
Two song styles that no Lachy Doley album should be without complete the eight track album.
'My Own Medicine' is the rattling piano rock and soul-pop roll moment of the album, while the mid-tempo and soul-funky 'Money' is the musician in familiar and well-loved Lachy Doley Group trio mode - keyboards to the fore, big splashes of Hammond and a simple but effective repeating rhythm to play over.
As Lachy Doley passionately reinforces, this is a world worth fighting for.
As the album also reinforces, Lachy Doley is a musician hitting the top of his soulful blues and funkily sprinkled game.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Head to Lachy Doley's Bandcamp or Bandcamp Shop pages to purchase A World Worth Fighting For (including Limited Edition Blue Vinyl) and previous albums:
https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/
https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/album/a-world-worth-fighting-for-2
Rich Young – Lamplighter; Psychotropic Blues
Rich Young, an Americana influenced but multi-styled, story-telling six-string slingin’ troubadour, has an uncanny but welcome knack of recording and releasing consistently entertaining, well-worth-a-listen albums.
Lamplighter and Psychotropic Blues, released within a few months of each other, prove that point along with the added bonus of showcasing the two sides of Rich Young – the fuller sounding former (featuring some dozen contributing musicians) dovetailing with the stripped back/ solo nature of the latter.
(This ain’t no 'double album of similar material released as single albums X months apart' ploy).
Lamplighter, the longer album, presents 18 songs, each (as the bracketed sub-title on the inner fold-out sleeve of the CD version confirms) with an observational slant that underline’s the song’s deeper meaning, or influence.
For those who don’t want the deeper dive however you are still entertained by a very strong singer-songwriter release. from up-tempo opener 'All Those Miles (too much tin box philosophy)' featuring nice pedal steel work from David Hartley, to the lighter charm of mid-album tracks 'Hidden (guard a heart)' and downtempo ballad 'Lost Cause (acceptance/ surrender),' through to the delightful, Celtic-folk tinged closing number 'Zodiac (childhood mind game).' The mandolin and whistle accompanied latter is a true highlight.
Elsewhere the delicacy of 'A Renaissance Man (inevitable disappointment)' recalls Dr. Hook/Dennis Locorriere (there are vocal similarities) in slower country mode, while contrast is provided by the moodier 'Days of Fools (here we are)' and the folkier, flute-led (courtesy of Myke Clifford) 'Insomnia (a constant companion).'
The aforementioned Myke Clifford also provides sax appeal on a few numbers, including the rhythm and bluesy 'Ricochet (cause/effect, action/reaction),' while Sal Hunter adds violin to the nostalgic tapestry of 'Lamplighter (forgotten worlds),' featuring sympathetic guitar lines from "sci fi" Jim Byatt.
Lamplighter and Psychotropic Blues, released within a few months of each other, prove that point along with the added bonus of showcasing the two sides of Rich Young – the fuller sounding former (featuring some dozen contributing musicians) dovetailing with the stripped back/ solo nature of the latter.
(This ain’t no 'double album of similar material released as single albums X months apart' ploy).
Lamplighter, the longer album, presents 18 songs, each (as the bracketed sub-title on the inner fold-out sleeve of the CD version confirms) with an observational slant that underline’s the song’s deeper meaning, or influence.
For those who don’t want the deeper dive however you are still entertained by a very strong singer-songwriter release. from up-tempo opener 'All Those Miles (too much tin box philosophy)' featuring nice pedal steel work from David Hartley, to the lighter charm of mid-album tracks 'Hidden (guard a heart)' and downtempo ballad 'Lost Cause (acceptance/ surrender),' through to the delightful, Celtic-folk tinged closing number 'Zodiac (childhood mind game).' The mandolin and whistle accompanied latter is a true highlight.
Elsewhere the delicacy of 'A Renaissance Man (inevitable disappointment)' recalls Dr. Hook/Dennis Locorriere (there are vocal similarities) in slower country mode, while contrast is provided by the moodier 'Days of Fools (here we are)' and the folkier, flute-led (courtesy of Myke Clifford) 'Insomnia (a constant companion).'
The aforementioned Myke Clifford also provides sax appeal on a few numbers, including the rhythm and bluesy 'Ricochet (cause/effect, action/reaction),' while Sal Hunter adds violin to the nostalgic tapestry of 'Lamplighter (forgotten worlds),' featuring sympathetic guitar lines from "sci fi" Jim Byatt.
Psychotropic Blues, a more concise 10 track offering, is, other than additional vocals from Jodie Gummer on two numbers, a Rich Young solo album in every way – acoustic guitars to the fore but with keys, self-harmonising, percussion and some bass guitar all part of the Psychotropic equation.
'Twenty Four Hours of Rain,' featuring all of the above, is a mid-tempo, pickin' blues that sets the scene, form, and indeed vibe of the album.
'Criminal Class,' which follows, features some deft slide guitar remarks before Young's humour comes calling on the acoustic & piano stomp of 'I Taught Her to Swear and Everything.'
(The latter comes from an overheard conversation between a woman and her friend and the realisation that the lady was talking about her (recently deceased) parrot. Brings a whole new meaning to singing the (Norwegian) blues.
Instrumental 'Cabernet Shuffle' does indeed shuffle in fine barroom blues, ivory tinkling and harmonica blowin' style; the blues harp stays on duty for the tale of the 'Don Quixotes Blues,' which may well be the pick of the bunch.
Other highlights include the 2am/ one for the road mood of the piano & harmonica led 'Forgive Not Forget' ("sometimes you forgive, but don’t forget" gets the nod for blues line of the album) and the reflective, acoustic charm of 'The Spirit Lives On,' where the song’s title becomes the sparingly used (and therefore more effective) vocal tag, featuring Jodie Gummer on harmonies.
Rich Young, like many other singer-songwriter styled artists (all caught between a Rock and roll living and a Hard Place to sell it in a very broken music model), has the songs and the musicianship, but he won’t be jetting off to a home in the Bahamas anytime soon.
But as Lamplighter and Psychotropic Blues (and just about every previous release) bear out, he’s Rich by every other measure.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
'Twenty Four Hours of Rain,' featuring all of the above, is a mid-tempo, pickin' blues that sets the scene, form, and indeed vibe of the album.
'Criminal Class,' which follows, features some deft slide guitar remarks before Young's humour comes calling on the acoustic & piano stomp of 'I Taught Her to Swear and Everything.'
(The latter comes from an overheard conversation between a woman and her friend and the realisation that the lady was talking about her (recently deceased) parrot. Brings a whole new meaning to singing the (Norwegian) blues.
Instrumental 'Cabernet Shuffle' does indeed shuffle in fine barroom blues, ivory tinkling and harmonica blowin' style; the blues harp stays on duty for the tale of the 'Don Quixotes Blues,' which may well be the pick of the bunch.
Other highlights include the 2am/ one for the road mood of the piano & harmonica led 'Forgive Not Forget' ("sometimes you forgive, but don’t forget" gets the nod for blues line of the album) and the reflective, acoustic charm of 'The Spirit Lives On,' where the song’s title becomes the sparingly used (and therefore more effective) vocal tag, featuring Jodie Gummer on harmonies.
Rich Young, like many other singer-songwriter styled artists (all caught between a Rock and roll living and a Hard Place to sell it in a very broken music model), has the songs and the musicianship, but he won’t be jetting off to a home in the Bahamas anytime soon.
But as Lamplighter and Psychotropic Blues (and just about every previous release) bear out, he’s Rich by every other measure.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Ben Hemming – Resurrection EP
As can be gleaned from the clutch of singles released over the last ten months or so by Nu-Blues singer-songwriter-guitarist Ben Hemming, the London based musician is coming from a more alt-rock-blues direction than previous albums, or the stark, acoustic Delta blues honesty of critically acclaimed debut Broken Man.
Four of those recent singles appear on 5 track EP Resurrection, which was recorded at Masterlink Productions with producer James Welsh, who has clearly helped bring out the best in Hemming (the fuller sound also benefits both artist and the songs).
The songs on Resurrection are also more about hope than might first be perceived; a re-evaluation of one’s self and how to make the best in what is a seemingly lost world.
Kicking off with a song titled 'The End' may seem a little back to front, but it’s the perfect opener to showcase the new alt-rock-blues sound of Ben Hemming, here clothed in the darkest, heavy Americana you’ll hear.
"I was born with a crown of thorns, I tried to live a life of reforms" declares Hemming on a song that lyrically seeks change, before ending on a repeated cry (forlorn or hopeful, you decide) of "it’s the end!"
'Baptise Me,' which follows, is an angsty, contemporary sheened alt rocker that on the surface seems to be a religious plea to "teach me how to be man" but at a deeper level is looking at gender issues and hypocrisy of the modern world.
The modern world, or in this case the consumer led society we find ourselves in, features again in the weighty, distortion blues that is 'Holy For a Day,' albeit as a more subtle lyrical undercurrent.
Bringing contrast, and as such arguably the pick of the quintet, is 'Born To Die,' which carries a more Americana-country vibe, albeit framed within Ben Hemming’s stark lyrical reality.
Final number 'Devil’s Dance' has an air of dusty Mexican border town about it (you can almost hear it being played during the end credits of a modern-day spaghetti western), which only adds to its charm, as does the simple but highly effective chorus; it also adds another texture to the EP.
The darker and visceral sides of Ben Hemming are still very much in evidence on the Resurrection EP, but as the title suggest this is also a musical and lyrical rebirth for the musician, one that sees him upping his game to deliver his best material to date.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Four of those recent singles appear on 5 track EP Resurrection, which was recorded at Masterlink Productions with producer James Welsh, who has clearly helped bring out the best in Hemming (the fuller sound also benefits both artist and the songs).
The songs on Resurrection are also more about hope than might first be perceived; a re-evaluation of one’s self and how to make the best in what is a seemingly lost world.
Kicking off with a song titled 'The End' may seem a little back to front, but it’s the perfect opener to showcase the new alt-rock-blues sound of Ben Hemming, here clothed in the darkest, heavy Americana you’ll hear.
"I was born with a crown of thorns, I tried to live a life of reforms" declares Hemming on a song that lyrically seeks change, before ending on a repeated cry (forlorn or hopeful, you decide) of "it’s the end!"
'Baptise Me,' which follows, is an angsty, contemporary sheened alt rocker that on the surface seems to be a religious plea to "teach me how to be man" but at a deeper level is looking at gender issues and hypocrisy of the modern world.
The modern world, or in this case the consumer led society we find ourselves in, features again in the weighty, distortion blues that is 'Holy For a Day,' albeit as a more subtle lyrical undercurrent.
Bringing contrast, and as such arguably the pick of the quintet, is 'Born To Die,' which carries a more Americana-country vibe, albeit framed within Ben Hemming’s stark lyrical reality.
Final number 'Devil’s Dance' has an air of dusty Mexican border town about it (you can almost hear it being played during the end credits of a modern-day spaghetti western), which only adds to its charm, as does the simple but highly effective chorus; it also adds another texture to the EP.
The darker and visceral sides of Ben Hemming are still very much in evidence on the Resurrection EP, but as the title suggest this is also a musical and lyrical rebirth for the musician, one that sees him upping his game to deliver his best material to date.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Ronnie Romero – Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters
Renowned Chilean voice-for-hire Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Lords of Black, Sunstorm, and more recently Elegant Weapons, to name but five) keeps the flag flying for Ronnie James Dio-type vocals in the classic rock setting.
And if the DIO-rock template floats your boat, then this is the vocally impacting guy for you.
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters is Romero’s first solo album of all-original material, following as it does two covers albums; as such it’s going to attract some not-before-time attention.
Recorded with a core duo of drummer Andy C. (with whom Romero wrote and produced the album) and guitarist Jose Rubio (keyboardist Francisco Gil & guitarist Javier Garcia also contribute) the album firmly ploughs the furrow of classic rock-metal with, perhaps fittingly given the DIO influence, a demonic focussed cover.
'Castaway On The Moon' kicks off the album in an enthusiastic, up-tempo manner with Andy C. and Jose Rubio (who impresses with razor sharp riffs and nimble solo work) proving themselves as more than capable foils for Ronnie Romero’s vocals.
The mid-tempo 'Mountain Of Light,' which follows, is a rock-metal stomp featuring some fairly hackneyed lyrical content about "turning blood into hope" and "a tower of stone" (did someone say DIO-esque?).
Jose Rubio however turns in another impressive performance complete with pinch harmonics and lightning fast arpeggios.
'I’ve Been Losing You' starts off as an interesting & contrasting piano based ballad but quickly turns into a Bon Jovi chugathon. The lyrical theme (as suggested by the title) includes such gems as "mists of desire" and "give me one more chance" which has been done countless times before.
The song has a reasonable chorus however and Jose Rubio and Andy C. put in good shifts, providing some redemption.
The title track is a definite improvement, with the band heading down the Judas Priest riff 'n' rhythm route with an excellent half-time chorus section. Ronnie Romero sings with conviction and there’s even a crowd-pleasing "woah-oh" mid-section before Jose Rubio lets rip with a Schenker-esque solo.
'Girl, Don’t Listen To The Radio' is a superior mid-tempo rocker with a demonic twist.
Jose Rubio is excellent in the riffing department (and a great wah-wah solo) while Ronnie Romero is in fine vocal form, staying away from the higher register to sound genuinely menacing in the more sinsiter passages (there’s a definite later-era Alice Cooper element to this number).
'Crossroad' is the most contrasting and unexpected song on the album, given it’s a slow rock-blues that nods to 'Black Velvet' (think DIO doing slow blues-metal and you’re pretty much there).
It also features one of Ronnie Romero’s best vocal performances of the album.
'Not Just a Nightmare' returns to the DIO/ 'Kill The King' template, both musically and vocally; it’s therefore highly unoriginal but competently delivered.
By contrast, 'On a Distant Shore' starts with piano before giving way to gritty riffing. The song then drops away to a quieter chorus before a return to the riffing and another impressive wah-wah solo from Jose Rubio (the song also shows a good sense, and use, of dynamics).
'Chased By Shadows' has roots in slower tempo DIO numbers like 'Holy Diver' but with enough modernity and menace about it to offer up some originality. It's additionally bolstered by a change in tempo towards the end with some complex riffing and drum parts.
Closer 'Vengeance' comes from the School of speed-metal (plus another nod to Judas Priest, as the "screaming vengeance!" chorus tag confirms), complete with unrelenting riffing & double bass drum work. The tempo drop right at the end is as impressive as it is unexpected.
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters is not going to change the rock-metal world, and lot of it is derivative, but it will assuredly appeal to that very fan base, in droves.
Nelson McFarlane
FabricationsHQ
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters will be released on 15th September on Frontiers Records.
Pre-order: https://orcd.co/masters
And if the DIO-rock template floats your boat, then this is the vocally impacting guy for you.
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters is Romero’s first solo album of all-original material, following as it does two covers albums; as such it’s going to attract some not-before-time attention.
Recorded with a core duo of drummer Andy C. (with whom Romero wrote and produced the album) and guitarist Jose Rubio (keyboardist Francisco Gil & guitarist Javier Garcia also contribute) the album firmly ploughs the furrow of classic rock-metal with, perhaps fittingly given the DIO influence, a demonic focussed cover.
'Castaway On The Moon' kicks off the album in an enthusiastic, up-tempo manner with Andy C. and Jose Rubio (who impresses with razor sharp riffs and nimble solo work) proving themselves as more than capable foils for Ronnie Romero’s vocals.
The mid-tempo 'Mountain Of Light,' which follows, is a rock-metal stomp featuring some fairly hackneyed lyrical content about "turning blood into hope" and "a tower of stone" (did someone say DIO-esque?).
Jose Rubio however turns in another impressive performance complete with pinch harmonics and lightning fast arpeggios.
'I’ve Been Losing You' starts off as an interesting & contrasting piano based ballad but quickly turns into a Bon Jovi chugathon. The lyrical theme (as suggested by the title) includes such gems as "mists of desire" and "give me one more chance" which has been done countless times before.
The song has a reasonable chorus however and Jose Rubio and Andy C. put in good shifts, providing some redemption.
The title track is a definite improvement, with the band heading down the Judas Priest riff 'n' rhythm route with an excellent half-time chorus section. Ronnie Romero sings with conviction and there’s even a crowd-pleasing "woah-oh" mid-section before Jose Rubio lets rip with a Schenker-esque solo.
'Girl, Don’t Listen To The Radio' is a superior mid-tempo rocker with a demonic twist.
Jose Rubio is excellent in the riffing department (and a great wah-wah solo) while Ronnie Romero is in fine vocal form, staying away from the higher register to sound genuinely menacing in the more sinsiter passages (there’s a definite later-era Alice Cooper element to this number).
'Crossroad' is the most contrasting and unexpected song on the album, given it’s a slow rock-blues that nods to 'Black Velvet' (think DIO doing slow blues-metal and you’re pretty much there).
It also features one of Ronnie Romero’s best vocal performances of the album.
'Not Just a Nightmare' returns to the DIO/ 'Kill The King' template, both musically and vocally; it’s therefore highly unoriginal but competently delivered.
By contrast, 'On a Distant Shore' starts with piano before giving way to gritty riffing. The song then drops away to a quieter chorus before a return to the riffing and another impressive wah-wah solo from Jose Rubio (the song also shows a good sense, and use, of dynamics).
'Chased By Shadows' has roots in slower tempo DIO numbers like 'Holy Diver' but with enough modernity and menace about it to offer up some originality. It's additionally bolstered by a change in tempo towards the end with some complex riffing and drum parts.
Closer 'Vengeance' comes from the School of speed-metal (plus another nod to Judas Priest, as the "screaming vengeance!" chorus tag confirms), complete with unrelenting riffing & double bass drum work. The tempo drop right at the end is as impressive as it is unexpected.
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters is not going to change the rock-metal world, and lot of it is derivative, but it will assuredly appeal to that very fan base, in droves.
Nelson McFarlane
FabricationsHQ
Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters will be released on 15th September on Frontiers Records.
Pre-order: https://orcd.co/masters
She Burns Red – Out Of Darkness
Scottish contemporary rockers She Burns Red, having delivered the critically acclaimed debut EP Take Back Tomorrow in 2020 (produced by Toby Jepson no less) have returned with a revamp via some line-up changes to offer up full-length debut Out Of Darkness.
Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign the band – Andy Moore (vocals, guitar) and James McCulloch (vocals, bass) now joined by guitarist Naz Scanferlato and ex Anchor Lane skin pounder Scott Hanlon – have delivered an album that builds upon, and goes beyond, the debut EP.
Opener 'Touch' is built on an insistent riff and an effective chorus. The band return to the riff before the second verse, but cleverly deviate from the first verse with the use of some staccato phrasing. A storming solo with some clever rhythm section accents before the play-out chorus add up to an impressive opening track with commercial rock appeal.
Following number 'Rise And Fall,' lyrically moving from loneliness to unity, also impresses with another memorable chorus/ guitar solo and powerful rhythm section. Comparisons, as has been the case with earlier SBR releases, will be made with the Foo Fighters, but there’s enough originality to attract the attention of like-minded souls.
'Klling Time' slightly reduces the intensity, if not the tempo; the song also illustrates that the band have some sense of dynamics (not every song is ‘pedal to the metal’).
Unlike the opening brace 'Killing Time' doesn’t carry a memorable chorus, but there are some clever rhythmic arrangements to savour here.
'Crosshairs,' here an earthier take/ mix than heard on the EP version, starts in Foo Fighters territory (rhythm guitar/ vocal introduction building toward stadium rock chorus) but actually comes over a bit like Snow Patrol with a rockier edge (and a guitar solo that takes the chorus sing-a-long approach).
Following number 'Heavy On The Head,' while lyrically on-point (the corruption of power) leans a bit too heavily on the 'Sweet Child Of Mine' intro approach before developing towards another of those big Foo type anthems; as such it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Mid-tempo rocker 'Run' improves proceedings with a strong performance from the rhythm section, a powerful vocal delivery, and the inclusion of some unexpected off-kilter riffing (the dynamics of this song help elevate it to the level of the first few numbers).
The weighty and purposeful 'Stronger,' which allows space for the vocals to shine during the verses (making the lyric about trying to step up and out depression more impacting), is another winner.
Additionally, the use of some half-time in the rhythm part reduces any feeling of one dimensionality.
Penultimate number 'Crack The Sky' includes some clever use of dissonance and contrasting verse-vocal parts. Further contrast is offered by way of the chorus (delivered in far less rocky, more heavy AOR manner) and a heavyweight outro section that includes a killer riff.
The band save the best till last with the title track, a powerful 'moving on' song that includes a great riff and verse combo delivered without any unnecessary bombast, before building to the highly impacting chorus.
A tastefully delivered guitar solo is included before the outro choruses, where the rhythm parts are cleverly changed to a more straightforward groove.
Out Of Darkness is a very promising debut album which includes some great ideas (Scott Hanlon puts in a powerhouse performance on drums with some innovative ideas) and a batch of songs that will translate very well to the live setting.
While there is a sense of a band evolving and searching for their own voice (which they most certainly find on the title track) there’s enough here to suggest that if they avoid the Foo Fighters template (and utilise less similar BPMs) they have the individuals and talent to rise above the competitive field.
Nelson McFarlane & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Out of The Darkness will be self released on September 15th
Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign the band – Andy Moore (vocals, guitar) and James McCulloch (vocals, bass) now joined by guitarist Naz Scanferlato and ex Anchor Lane skin pounder Scott Hanlon – have delivered an album that builds upon, and goes beyond, the debut EP.
Opener 'Touch' is built on an insistent riff and an effective chorus. The band return to the riff before the second verse, but cleverly deviate from the first verse with the use of some staccato phrasing. A storming solo with some clever rhythm section accents before the play-out chorus add up to an impressive opening track with commercial rock appeal.
Following number 'Rise And Fall,' lyrically moving from loneliness to unity, also impresses with another memorable chorus/ guitar solo and powerful rhythm section. Comparisons, as has been the case with earlier SBR releases, will be made with the Foo Fighters, but there’s enough originality to attract the attention of like-minded souls.
'Klling Time' slightly reduces the intensity, if not the tempo; the song also illustrates that the band have some sense of dynamics (not every song is ‘pedal to the metal’).
Unlike the opening brace 'Killing Time' doesn’t carry a memorable chorus, but there are some clever rhythmic arrangements to savour here.
'Crosshairs,' here an earthier take/ mix than heard on the EP version, starts in Foo Fighters territory (rhythm guitar/ vocal introduction building toward stadium rock chorus) but actually comes over a bit like Snow Patrol with a rockier edge (and a guitar solo that takes the chorus sing-a-long approach).
Following number 'Heavy On The Head,' while lyrically on-point (the corruption of power) leans a bit too heavily on the 'Sweet Child Of Mine' intro approach before developing towards another of those big Foo type anthems; as such it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Mid-tempo rocker 'Run' improves proceedings with a strong performance from the rhythm section, a powerful vocal delivery, and the inclusion of some unexpected off-kilter riffing (the dynamics of this song help elevate it to the level of the first few numbers).
The weighty and purposeful 'Stronger,' which allows space for the vocals to shine during the verses (making the lyric about trying to step up and out depression more impacting), is another winner.
Additionally, the use of some half-time in the rhythm part reduces any feeling of one dimensionality.
Penultimate number 'Crack The Sky' includes some clever use of dissonance and contrasting verse-vocal parts. Further contrast is offered by way of the chorus (delivered in far less rocky, more heavy AOR manner) and a heavyweight outro section that includes a killer riff.
The band save the best till last with the title track, a powerful 'moving on' song that includes a great riff and verse combo delivered without any unnecessary bombast, before building to the highly impacting chorus.
A tastefully delivered guitar solo is included before the outro choruses, where the rhythm parts are cleverly changed to a more straightforward groove.
Out Of Darkness is a very promising debut album which includes some great ideas (Scott Hanlon puts in a powerhouse performance on drums with some innovative ideas) and a batch of songs that will translate very well to the live setting.
While there is a sense of a band evolving and searching for their own voice (which they most certainly find on the title track) there’s enough here to suggest that if they avoid the Foo Fighters template (and utilise less similar BPMs) they have the individuals and talent to rise above the competitive field.
Nelson McFarlane & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Out of The Darkness will be self released on September 15th
The Sensational Alex Harvey Experience – Holy Fire EP
Given the Sensational Alex Harvey Experience (SAHE) have made their in homage name plying their trade as one of Scotland’s finest tribute bands and the best Sensational Alex Harvey Band act on the live circuit, a studio EP would seem to be a bit redundant.
Not so with SAHE who, following their three SAHB cover singles in 2022, have followed up said singles with an EP of three more SAHB classics (with due appreciation to the originals but with their own spin or twist) plus an all new original, cleverly composed as the greatest SAHB sequel never written…
That 'Faith Healer' opens with suspenseful, atmospheric treatments before the classic synth pulse & cutting riff kicks in nods to the above noted observation – SAHE give due reverence to the classic SAHB material but add their own pseudo-soundtrack twists (a solo performing trademark of multi-styled keyboardist Davie Cowan).
The song itself drives along in true SAHB fashion, powered by bassist Nelson McFarlane and drummer Chris Killen, but here with fuller bodied sheen.
The real trick to its success however (as is the case with the live shows) is Andy Massie’s Harvey-esque vocal is never any sort of parody or mimic of the late and legendary Alex Harvey; but he does pay vocal homage with the part-chilling, part-cheeky style that made Harvey unique (there was and will always be, only one Alexander James Harvey).
'Midnight Moses' also gets the SAHE treatment, here with a bolder sound, bigger harmonised "Hey, hey, hey hey!" shouts and some tasty interjected licks from guitarist Brian Cartwright (who, if you have seen SAHE live, also looks the Pierrot-Clemson part).
'St Anthony,' in the early going, stays closest to the original (given its then proto now popular rock-metal vibe and rollicking rhythm that’s a smart call) before hitting a funkier soul-rock section that works extremely well.
The song then closes out as it came in, hot and rockin’.
Highlight of the EP is SAHE original 'The Tomahawk Kid Returns.'
A near half-century on follow-up to 'The Tomahawk Kid,' SAHE’s ‘sequel’ nods musically to the SAHB original (chorus melodies are revisited/ retained; Davie Cowan is at his Hugh McKenna best) while also cleverly placing the Kid’s return in the present ("There was Captain Dan, Billy Bones, and me" replaced by "There was Nelson, Chris, Brian, Davie and me").
Andy Massie’s Harvey-esque narrative introduction ("Fifty years had passed, as he stared at the mast, as the ship sailed out of Glasgow…") is the shivering icing on the timbers’ cake.
Yo Ho Holy Fire, me Sensational Alex Harvey hearties!
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Holy Fire is out now on all major digital platforms for download and streaming.
Not so with SAHE who, following their three SAHB cover singles in 2022, have followed up said singles with an EP of three more SAHB classics (with due appreciation to the originals but with their own spin or twist) plus an all new original, cleverly composed as the greatest SAHB sequel never written…
That 'Faith Healer' opens with suspenseful, atmospheric treatments before the classic synth pulse & cutting riff kicks in nods to the above noted observation – SAHE give due reverence to the classic SAHB material but add their own pseudo-soundtrack twists (a solo performing trademark of multi-styled keyboardist Davie Cowan).
The song itself drives along in true SAHB fashion, powered by bassist Nelson McFarlane and drummer Chris Killen, but here with fuller bodied sheen.
The real trick to its success however (as is the case with the live shows) is Andy Massie’s Harvey-esque vocal is never any sort of parody or mimic of the late and legendary Alex Harvey; but he does pay vocal homage with the part-chilling, part-cheeky style that made Harvey unique (there was and will always be, only one Alexander James Harvey).
'Midnight Moses' also gets the SAHE treatment, here with a bolder sound, bigger harmonised "Hey, hey, hey hey!" shouts and some tasty interjected licks from guitarist Brian Cartwright (who, if you have seen SAHE live, also looks the Pierrot-Clemson part).
'St Anthony,' in the early going, stays closest to the original (given its then proto now popular rock-metal vibe and rollicking rhythm that’s a smart call) before hitting a funkier soul-rock section that works extremely well.
The song then closes out as it came in, hot and rockin’.
Highlight of the EP is SAHE original 'The Tomahawk Kid Returns.'
A near half-century on follow-up to 'The Tomahawk Kid,' SAHE’s ‘sequel’ nods musically to the SAHB original (chorus melodies are revisited/ retained; Davie Cowan is at his Hugh McKenna best) while also cleverly placing the Kid’s return in the present ("There was Captain Dan, Billy Bones, and me" replaced by "There was Nelson, Chris, Brian, Davie and me").
Andy Massie’s Harvey-esque narrative introduction ("Fifty years had passed, as he stared at the mast, as the ship sailed out of Glasgow…") is the shivering icing on the timbers’ cake.
Yo Ho Holy Fire, me Sensational Alex Harvey hearties!
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Holy Fire is out now on all major digital platforms for download and streaming.
Leoni Jane Kennedy - New World Woman
There’s something decidedly heartening about a young female talent in the singer-songwriter field recording an acoustic album of Rush covers.
Given the sometimes conceptual and always progressive (in its correct small p sense) nature of the Canadian rock giants, Rush were always seen as a blokes band.
However New World Woman by Leoni Jane Kennedy is a solid reminder that their music, and Neil Peart’s exceptional and expressive lyricism, rippled out further than your typical 'of an age' male rock fan.
The soulfully voiced and London based (but Blackpool born) Kennedy, who is also pretty handy on guitar (clever riff-lines and rhythmic melodies are all part of the LJK package), is a major Rush fan, and has been since her earliest music listening years.
It's perhaps no surprise then that, via a successful Kickstarter campaign, LJK has recorded and released a tribute to the famous trio and done it not just tastefully (and in places quite poignantly), but added a twist or two – and, as the title confirms, with a woman’s perspective.
Co-produced by Steve Brown of the UK’s leading Rush tribute Moving Pictures (whom LJK has supported on a number of occasions) New World Woman, other than a couple of 1970s exceptions, focusses on 80s and later era Rush (that most of the chosen songs are deeper cuts only adds to the album's tribute individuality).
'Tears,' released as a pre-album pledge grat-track and featuring a lovely, delicate vocal, retains the soft sadness of the 2112 ballad, but other than 'Tears' and 'Digital Man,' a dual acoustic interpretation of the Signals classic featuring guest player Nick Andrew, that’s pretty much where the faithful to the original policy ends.
A perfect (and creatively constructed) example is 'Different Zone,' a haunting mash-up of 'Different Strings' and a dreamy chorus interjection of 'The Twilight Zone.'
1980s Rush would seem to be a favoured period or go-to for Miss Kennedy, given six of the ten tracks (including the aforementioned 'Digital Man') come from that decade – 'Kid Gloves' becomes a jaunty acoustic-folk life lesson; 'Open Secrets' and 'Mystic Rhythms' (both with with lovely self-harmonising) sound like they could have surfaced on a Joni Mitchell album; 'Available Light' translates (and is sung) beautifully in its more forlorn singer-songwriter guise; 'New World Woman' is the girl power version of 'New World Man' ("she’s a rebel and a runner…").
Later era Rush is covered (in both senses) by 'Faithless,' which carries a totally different dynamic with its subtler, acoustic tones, and 'Cold Fire' featuring Eóin de Paor of Moving Pictures; the latter's bass lines and shared lead vocal becoming the counterparts (natch) to LJK’s acoustic interplay and vocal.
In the greater musical scheme of things, Leoni Jane Kennedy is just starting out, but her CV already includes receiving an artist sponsorship from Yamaha, endorsements from Orange Amplification, PRS Guitars & Boss and, in 2018, having Brian May & Roger Taylor award her The Freddie Mercury Scholarship.
In 2020 LJK and her band released moody alt-rock single 'Life Like This' with producer John Gallen (Uriah Heep, Motörhead); that same year she graduated with a 1st Class BA Honours Degree in Music Industry Practice and is currently studying an MA in Songwriting at ICMP; earlier this year LJK could be seen & heard supporting The Anchoress around the UK (something she will repeat when The Anchoress goes back out on the road in September).
Covering Rush songs therefore is but one part of her résumé but this album is a highly impressive release, one that deserves to be heard well outside the fandom of that stellar band.
Leoni Jane Kennedy. New World Woman in a New Musical Age.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase New World Woman and related merch at: https://www.leonijanekennedy.com/shop
Given the sometimes conceptual and always progressive (in its correct small p sense) nature of the Canadian rock giants, Rush were always seen as a blokes band.
However New World Woman by Leoni Jane Kennedy is a solid reminder that their music, and Neil Peart’s exceptional and expressive lyricism, rippled out further than your typical 'of an age' male rock fan.
The soulfully voiced and London based (but Blackpool born) Kennedy, who is also pretty handy on guitar (clever riff-lines and rhythmic melodies are all part of the LJK package), is a major Rush fan, and has been since her earliest music listening years.
It's perhaps no surprise then that, via a successful Kickstarter campaign, LJK has recorded and released a tribute to the famous trio and done it not just tastefully (and in places quite poignantly), but added a twist or two – and, as the title confirms, with a woman’s perspective.
Co-produced by Steve Brown of the UK’s leading Rush tribute Moving Pictures (whom LJK has supported on a number of occasions) New World Woman, other than a couple of 1970s exceptions, focusses on 80s and later era Rush (that most of the chosen songs are deeper cuts only adds to the album's tribute individuality).
'Tears,' released as a pre-album pledge grat-track and featuring a lovely, delicate vocal, retains the soft sadness of the 2112 ballad, but other than 'Tears' and 'Digital Man,' a dual acoustic interpretation of the Signals classic featuring guest player Nick Andrew, that’s pretty much where the faithful to the original policy ends.
A perfect (and creatively constructed) example is 'Different Zone,' a haunting mash-up of 'Different Strings' and a dreamy chorus interjection of 'The Twilight Zone.'
1980s Rush would seem to be a favoured period or go-to for Miss Kennedy, given six of the ten tracks (including the aforementioned 'Digital Man') come from that decade – 'Kid Gloves' becomes a jaunty acoustic-folk life lesson; 'Open Secrets' and 'Mystic Rhythms' (both with with lovely self-harmonising) sound like they could have surfaced on a Joni Mitchell album; 'Available Light' translates (and is sung) beautifully in its more forlorn singer-songwriter guise; 'New World Woman' is the girl power version of 'New World Man' ("she’s a rebel and a runner…").
Later era Rush is covered (in both senses) by 'Faithless,' which carries a totally different dynamic with its subtler, acoustic tones, and 'Cold Fire' featuring Eóin de Paor of Moving Pictures; the latter's bass lines and shared lead vocal becoming the counterparts (natch) to LJK’s acoustic interplay and vocal.
In the greater musical scheme of things, Leoni Jane Kennedy is just starting out, but her CV already includes receiving an artist sponsorship from Yamaha, endorsements from Orange Amplification, PRS Guitars & Boss and, in 2018, having Brian May & Roger Taylor award her The Freddie Mercury Scholarship.
In 2020 LJK and her band released moody alt-rock single 'Life Like This' with producer John Gallen (Uriah Heep, Motörhead); that same year she graduated with a 1st Class BA Honours Degree in Music Industry Practice and is currently studying an MA in Songwriting at ICMP; earlier this year LJK could be seen & heard supporting The Anchoress around the UK (something she will repeat when The Anchoress goes back out on the road in September).
Covering Rush songs therefore is but one part of her résumé but this album is a highly impressive release, one that deserves to be heard well outside the fandom of that stellar band.
Leoni Jane Kennedy. New World Woman in a New Musical Age.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase New World Woman and related merch at: https://www.leonijanekennedy.com/shop
Andy Lindquist – My 100 Blues
100 Not Out.
A phrase associated with Cricket might not seem the best fit for an American artist delivering a blues/ blues rock release (although the game of wickets, bails and overs is played, and followed, Stateside).
However it couldn’t better describe Floridian based singer-songwriter-guitarist/multi-instrumentalist-audio engineer-producer (and luthier, among other talents) Andy Lindquist and his new album My 100 Blues which, as the title helps confirm, is his one hundredth album over a forty years and counting career (although not all releases have been blues based, as noted below).
100 Not Out, the notable achievement in cricket of a batsman hitting one hundred runs and still in the game, also sums up Andy Lindquist on reaching his own century, given he could, due to many adversities, have stopped weilding the six-string bat years ago.
And that’s because Andy Lindquist’s honest talking (and lyric writing) approach to life present a musician who has spoken (and sung) many times of an upbringing that wasn’t always healthy.
But then nor was he.
Multiple strokes, alcoholism (which he beat out decades ago; sobriety reigns supreme), living with Behçet's disease, ADHT, various other ailments… all would, frankly, have put a lesser man down.
But Andy Lindquist ain’t no lesser man.
Of proud North Dakotan stock and Viking ancestry, Lindquist has a zest for life and passion for music that shines across many a genre (blues is his muse but classic pop, rock, jazz, Celtic, Christian, Americana-country and even punk pepper his impressive back catalogue).
He also uses those aforementioned adversities to strengthen his musical resolve, heard to powerful effect on the rumbunctious blues of 'Ain’t Gonna Ride My Wheels,' which opens his one hundredth album.
The gritty swagger and brooding beat of '12 Ways To Sunday' is another winner, as is the lyrically autobiographical stomp, guitar chug and swampy slide of the title track, the slow and melodic 'Paralyzed in Blue' (think Glenn Hughes in mellower blues mode), the tempo-shifting 'Hit And Run Blues' and the groovier, psychedelic country of 'Stone Truck’n.'
The soul-blues brace of 'Lowdown Hard Times' and 'Them Bad Old Days' tell obvious song title tales (the latter taking positivity from negativity – an Andy Lindquist trait) while lighter Lindquist tuneage is catered for through the acoustic 'n' western vibe of 'Now Hold On Mama,' finger-picking love song 'Some Call It Blue' (the vocal vulnerability emphasising the sincerity of the personal lyric) and 'I Ready Myself,' a down-home acoustic take on Robert Johnson's soul-selling preparation for Judgement Day.
Yeah, Andy Lindquist ain’t no lesser man, and he’s not done swingin’ yet.
Wait, that one is more of a baseball phrase, but then that might be a little more on point (or on base), not least because he’s hit a Home Run with My 100 Blues.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
My 100 Blues will be released on 8th August on all major digital platforms (Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, etc).
A phrase associated with Cricket might not seem the best fit for an American artist delivering a blues/ blues rock release (although the game of wickets, bails and overs is played, and followed, Stateside).
However it couldn’t better describe Floridian based singer-songwriter-guitarist/multi-instrumentalist-audio engineer-producer (and luthier, among other talents) Andy Lindquist and his new album My 100 Blues which, as the title helps confirm, is his one hundredth album over a forty years and counting career (although not all releases have been blues based, as noted below).
100 Not Out, the notable achievement in cricket of a batsman hitting one hundred runs and still in the game, also sums up Andy Lindquist on reaching his own century, given he could, due to many adversities, have stopped weilding the six-string bat years ago.
And that’s because Andy Lindquist’s honest talking (and lyric writing) approach to life present a musician who has spoken (and sung) many times of an upbringing that wasn’t always healthy.
But then nor was he.
Multiple strokes, alcoholism (which he beat out decades ago; sobriety reigns supreme), living with Behçet's disease, ADHT, various other ailments… all would, frankly, have put a lesser man down.
But Andy Lindquist ain’t no lesser man.
Of proud North Dakotan stock and Viking ancestry, Lindquist has a zest for life and passion for music that shines across many a genre (blues is his muse but classic pop, rock, jazz, Celtic, Christian, Americana-country and even punk pepper his impressive back catalogue).
He also uses those aforementioned adversities to strengthen his musical resolve, heard to powerful effect on the rumbunctious blues of 'Ain’t Gonna Ride My Wheels,' which opens his one hundredth album.
The gritty swagger and brooding beat of '12 Ways To Sunday' is another winner, as is the lyrically autobiographical stomp, guitar chug and swampy slide of the title track, the slow and melodic 'Paralyzed in Blue' (think Glenn Hughes in mellower blues mode), the tempo-shifting 'Hit And Run Blues' and the groovier, psychedelic country of 'Stone Truck’n.'
The soul-blues brace of 'Lowdown Hard Times' and 'Them Bad Old Days' tell obvious song title tales (the latter taking positivity from negativity – an Andy Lindquist trait) while lighter Lindquist tuneage is catered for through the acoustic 'n' western vibe of 'Now Hold On Mama,' finger-picking love song 'Some Call It Blue' (the vocal vulnerability emphasising the sincerity of the personal lyric) and 'I Ready Myself,' a down-home acoustic take on Robert Johnson's soul-selling preparation for Judgement Day.
Yeah, Andy Lindquist ain’t no lesser man, and he’s not done swingin’ yet.
Wait, that one is more of a baseball phrase, but then that might be a little more on point (or on base), not least because he’s hit a Home Run with My 100 Blues.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
My 100 Blues will be released on 8th August on all major digital platforms (Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, etc).
Luke Morley – Songs from The Blue Room
Guitarist/ multi-instrumentalist, songwriter & producer Luke Morley is famously known as an integral part of the well-loved and highly successful British rock band Thunder (14 studio albums down and still rockin’).
There’s also two funky, soul-fuelled albums with Thunder frontman Danny Bowes, project band The Union with Pete Shoulder (which delivered three excellent albums) and short-lived pre-Thunder outfit, Terraplane (exceptional debut album, not so exceptional follow-up).
Mention should also be made of an EP with Andy Taylor (with whom Morley also worked with in the latter days of The Power Station) and soul-pop orientated solo album El Gringo Retro, which featured a couple of the Morley-Taylor songs).
And then there’s Morley's love for Americana and US West Coast music styles, which form the framework for Songs from The Blue Room.
The album is also nearly all Luke Morley – other than drummer Dave McCluskey, Morley plays all the instruments and nearly all vocals, including lead on all ten tracks.
That love of Americana is heard right from the get-go and opener 'I Wanna See The Light,' an upbeat Americana rock plea to positivity and wanting to be able to "live like I did before… when the world was a brighter place" (an Americana amen to that Brother Luke, and a clear nod to the fact many of the songs were written during Covid lockdowns).
The fact the song also benefits from a heartland/ rock oriented Petty & the Heartbreakers sound is no bad thing.
By contrast, but still holding to the Americana styled vibe, 'Killed By Cobain' is a mid-tempo that lyrically reflects on how grunge scuppered any chance of 90s era Thunder making a dent in the US.
Musically the song conjures a musical image of The Traveling Wilburys meeting 'Waterloo Sunset,' along with a poptastic and quirky middle 8 the Beatles would have been proud of.
'Errol Flynn,' a song Luke Morley had lying in demo state for some time, is a laid back western waltz to the end of the golden days and growing older.
Another number dusted down from Morley’s demo archives, 'Nobody Cares,' is a true gem; while it might not grab the attention like many of the more up-tempo numbers, its traditional Greek/ Romany arrangement backing a topical lyric about social media obsession makes for an eclectic winner.
The piano led pop of 'Damage,' like 'Nobody Cares,' strays from the Americana template (it also contains a nifty little solo from Luke Morley) while the guitar jangle and harmonica blowin' 'Watch The Sun Go Down,' as has been said by Luke Morley, among others, is the "summer song" of the album.
(It was therefore, naturally and quite rightly, pushed as a single prior to the album’s late June release).
Hard Americana rock and roll number 'Cry Like Rain' is the one number you could see and hear Thunder doing (Danny Bowes would love to get his tonsils around this 'un, although Luke Morley does a more than able vocal job).
Acoustic based love song 'Lying to Myself' is a folky little charmer with delightful harmonies; it contrasts nicely with penultimate number 'I'm The One You Want,' a funky rhythm and barroom blues that includes a couple of tasty (and well placed) solos from Morley.
Piano ballad 'Don’t Be Long' isn’t the most original "please come home" number you will ever hear closing out a songwriter’s solo album; however its subtle arrangement, sincere vocal (Luke Morley’s best of the album) and short, George Harrison-esque guitar interjection, make for a genuinely lovely finish to a highly accomplished album.
From Backstreet Symphonies to Americana Influences.
Turns out Luke Morley does both equally well.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
There’s also two funky, soul-fuelled albums with Thunder frontman Danny Bowes, project band The Union with Pete Shoulder (which delivered three excellent albums) and short-lived pre-Thunder outfit, Terraplane (exceptional debut album, not so exceptional follow-up).
Mention should also be made of an EP with Andy Taylor (with whom Morley also worked with in the latter days of The Power Station) and soul-pop orientated solo album El Gringo Retro, which featured a couple of the Morley-Taylor songs).
And then there’s Morley's love for Americana and US West Coast music styles, which form the framework for Songs from The Blue Room.
The album is also nearly all Luke Morley – other than drummer Dave McCluskey, Morley plays all the instruments and nearly all vocals, including lead on all ten tracks.
That love of Americana is heard right from the get-go and opener 'I Wanna See The Light,' an upbeat Americana rock plea to positivity and wanting to be able to "live like I did before… when the world was a brighter place" (an Americana amen to that Brother Luke, and a clear nod to the fact many of the songs were written during Covid lockdowns).
The fact the song also benefits from a heartland/ rock oriented Petty & the Heartbreakers sound is no bad thing.
By contrast, but still holding to the Americana styled vibe, 'Killed By Cobain' is a mid-tempo that lyrically reflects on how grunge scuppered any chance of 90s era Thunder making a dent in the US.
Musically the song conjures a musical image of The Traveling Wilburys meeting 'Waterloo Sunset,' along with a poptastic and quirky middle 8 the Beatles would have been proud of.
'Errol Flynn,' a song Luke Morley had lying in demo state for some time, is a laid back western waltz to the end of the golden days and growing older.
Another number dusted down from Morley’s demo archives, 'Nobody Cares,' is a true gem; while it might not grab the attention like many of the more up-tempo numbers, its traditional Greek/ Romany arrangement backing a topical lyric about social media obsession makes for an eclectic winner.
The piano led pop of 'Damage,' like 'Nobody Cares,' strays from the Americana template (it also contains a nifty little solo from Luke Morley) while the guitar jangle and harmonica blowin' 'Watch The Sun Go Down,' as has been said by Luke Morley, among others, is the "summer song" of the album.
(It was therefore, naturally and quite rightly, pushed as a single prior to the album’s late June release).
Hard Americana rock and roll number 'Cry Like Rain' is the one number you could see and hear Thunder doing (Danny Bowes would love to get his tonsils around this 'un, although Luke Morley does a more than able vocal job).
Acoustic based love song 'Lying to Myself' is a folky little charmer with delightful harmonies; it contrasts nicely with penultimate number 'I'm The One You Want,' a funky rhythm and barroom blues that includes a couple of tasty (and well placed) solos from Morley.
Piano ballad 'Don’t Be Long' isn’t the most original "please come home" number you will ever hear closing out a songwriter’s solo album; however its subtle arrangement, sincere vocal (Luke Morley’s best of the album) and short, George Harrison-esque guitar interjection, make for a genuinely lovely finish to a highly accomplished album.
From Backstreet Symphonies to Americana Influences.
Turns out Luke Morley does both equally well.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Quint Starkie – Quintessential
Music fans who know the name of singer-songwriter-guitarist Quint Starkie will, more than likely, associate said name with another singer-songwriter-guitarist of some musical and lyrical note, Francis Dunnery.
(The Swedish based Starkie is also part of Francis Dunnery’s It Bites).
The associations don’t end there; Quint Starkie is a major fan of Francis Dunnery and clearly influenced by his acoustic based songwriting style and use of melody (utilised to not just fine but outstanding effect on Starkie’s 2016 solo album Ghost in My Heart).
But while the Dunnery-isms are evident there’s self-made musical art and lyrical craft to Quint Starkie’s material, as heard on latest solo offering Quintessential (I see what you did there, Mr Starkie).
The album, which first saw the light of the rising sun day in Japan in 2022 (now remastered with a different and better paced track order, new cover and an additional track), is a lyrically personal work but one that’s immediately accessible – musically light, airy and pleasant as a cool breeze or coastal drive.
The dreamy soul-pop of album opener 'Just Like You' features delightful guitar remarks and some lovely harmony & backing vocals (Tania Doko, Jule Wiegand, Dorie Jackson and Michael Kleimert all make themselves vocally known across various tracks).
Following number 'Hollywood' then belies its charming pop-bounce and up-tempo beat with lyrical poignancy ("LAX is the loneliest place in the world to find yourself when love takes off and leaves you staring in a coffee cup").
There seems to be a similar LA (dis)connection (Quint Starkie lived in LA for a time) on ballad 'Fear of Flying' ("I’m conquering this fear of flying, but taking off without you is frightening") while the acoustic-led 'Home Again' is a lovely, re-grounding oneself number on the benefits of returning to where you truly belong ("thank you for the blessings of my family tree, my home is where my heart wants to be").
One of the most personal but endearing numbers on the album is 'Mr Maxwell,' a "car song" about a Sunday drive shared between father and young son.
Carrying a delightful feel-good vibe, the song also offers up a nice correlation between drive-time and your favourite song/s on the radio ("push the pedal to the floor, try to squeeze a little more… Bowie’s on the radio, floating in a tin can!").
'Mr Maxwell' is one of two songs on the album that first appeared as singles back in 2020, the year it all went pandemic-pear shaped. 'Mr Maxwell' and the other earlier number, 'Endless Summer' (a reflective, smile-on-the-face song to love), were the better times ahead antithesis to the negativity of 2020; both deserve their Quintessential placing.
Also worthy of mention is the inclusion of another 2020 song 'Gotta Let Go' (a welcome and soulfully atmospheric addition) and the enhanced sound of the album – in this case a sonically brighter remastering, courtesy of Martin Ankelius.
Penultimate number ‘Falling For the First Time’ offers up fairly simple but engaging soul-pop fun (with a soupçon of 70s era Stevie Wonder for good measure) before ballad ‘Something I Couldn’t Be' closes out the album in the most moving of hard-choice circumstances ("When ambition finally hit me there was nothing I could do, California was there waiting and she chose me over you").
Deeply personal in places it may be but this album is, as the title so emphatically states, Quintessential singer-songwriter listening.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The remastered & revisited edition of Quintessential is available now on Bandcamp: https://quintstarkie.bandcamp.com/album/quintessential
(The Swedish based Starkie is also part of Francis Dunnery’s It Bites).
The associations don’t end there; Quint Starkie is a major fan of Francis Dunnery and clearly influenced by his acoustic based songwriting style and use of melody (utilised to not just fine but outstanding effect on Starkie’s 2016 solo album Ghost in My Heart).
But while the Dunnery-isms are evident there’s self-made musical art and lyrical craft to Quint Starkie’s material, as heard on latest solo offering Quintessential (I see what you did there, Mr Starkie).
The album, which first saw the light of the rising sun day in Japan in 2022 (now remastered with a different and better paced track order, new cover and an additional track), is a lyrically personal work but one that’s immediately accessible – musically light, airy and pleasant as a cool breeze or coastal drive.
The dreamy soul-pop of album opener 'Just Like You' features delightful guitar remarks and some lovely harmony & backing vocals (Tania Doko, Jule Wiegand, Dorie Jackson and Michael Kleimert all make themselves vocally known across various tracks).
Following number 'Hollywood' then belies its charming pop-bounce and up-tempo beat with lyrical poignancy ("LAX is the loneliest place in the world to find yourself when love takes off and leaves you staring in a coffee cup").
There seems to be a similar LA (dis)connection (Quint Starkie lived in LA for a time) on ballad 'Fear of Flying' ("I’m conquering this fear of flying, but taking off without you is frightening") while the acoustic-led 'Home Again' is a lovely, re-grounding oneself number on the benefits of returning to where you truly belong ("thank you for the blessings of my family tree, my home is where my heart wants to be").
One of the most personal but endearing numbers on the album is 'Mr Maxwell,' a "car song" about a Sunday drive shared between father and young son.
Carrying a delightful feel-good vibe, the song also offers up a nice correlation between drive-time and your favourite song/s on the radio ("push the pedal to the floor, try to squeeze a little more… Bowie’s on the radio, floating in a tin can!").
'Mr Maxwell' is one of two songs on the album that first appeared as singles back in 2020, the year it all went pandemic-pear shaped. 'Mr Maxwell' and the other earlier number, 'Endless Summer' (a reflective, smile-on-the-face song to love), were the better times ahead antithesis to the negativity of 2020; both deserve their Quintessential placing.
Also worthy of mention is the inclusion of another 2020 song 'Gotta Let Go' (a welcome and soulfully atmospheric addition) and the enhanced sound of the album – in this case a sonically brighter remastering, courtesy of Martin Ankelius.
Penultimate number ‘Falling For the First Time’ offers up fairly simple but engaging soul-pop fun (with a soupçon of 70s era Stevie Wonder for good measure) before ballad ‘Something I Couldn’t Be' closes out the album in the most moving of hard-choice circumstances ("When ambition finally hit me there was nothing I could do, California was there waiting and she chose me over you").
Deeply personal in places it may be but this album is, as the title so emphatically states, Quintessential singer-songwriter listening.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The remastered & revisited edition of Quintessential is available now on Bandcamp: https://quintstarkie.bandcamp.com/album/quintessential
Brownbear – Demons
As a fully independent artist it’s fitting there is (and indeed always has been) an Indie-pop vibe to the music of Ayrshire’s Brownbear, a name that’s interchangeable between band and front man/ singer-songwriter/ solo artist Matt Hickman (who performed under the moniker when playing acoustic gigs in coffee bars and their arts centre like long before there was a Brownbear band).
The Hickman penned Brownbear sound was first heard (in full studio album terms) on 2018 debut What Is Home?, an acoustic based Indie folk affair that caught some deserved attention.
Now, five years on with an album those same five years in the making (Matt Hickman lyrically tracking through the pandemic, lockdowns, personal experiences and honest social commentary), comes Demons, and even stronger, larger sounding work that has already garnered more attention than the debut.
The album opens with a one-two salvo of Indie power-pop with, first, the rockin’ rhythm of 'All I Want' followed by the Modish big beat of the melodically infectious 'Close Call' (one of a handful of songs on the album to be punctuated with horns of brass effects).
Third number 'Let Your Guard Down' is the acoustic/ Indie-folk side of Brownbear/ Matt Hickman; a warm and charming mid-tempo that lyrically confirms it’s OK to reach out on occasion to a world you feel "has let you down."
'Take Your Time' then delivers some sixties-styled soul-pop groove before the acoustic based, pseudo reggae of 'Telling Stories' offers itself up as the simplest song on the album, but one that’s hard not to smile, foot tap or finger click along to.
The down-tempo break-up title track ("Those Demons, they never seem to go away, so I play…") is not just a surprising highlight, it also sets up the album’s lighter, more reflective and lyrically observational second half.
'Demons' is followed by 'Little White Lies.' The song retains the broken relationship melancholy of the title track but here the relationship is about how long you can be there for someone who is being less than honest about their ‘habits’ ("you fucked up again with the wrong friends – it happens every time; I can’t predict the future but I know how this will end").
'Melodie,' a friendship-love song of sorts, is the mid-tempo acoustic companion piece to 'Let Your Guard Down;' following number, the musically endearing & lyrically soul-baring ballad 'Spin Another Web' is the album's most melancholic and contemplative moment ("When I look in the mirror, will you be looking back… I’m still figuring out how to keep going, when all that I’ve known is the past").
The weightiest number on Demons, certainly lyrically, is closing track 'Unity.'
A rhythmic, gospel-pop plea for equality (yet also celebratory), the song lyrically traces race history, culture and the Black Lives Matter movement which, as Matt Hickman is well aware, is far from something that just materialised in 2020 (albeit that’s when it was so dramatically highlighted).
That Brownbear may have finally and deservedly gotten a couple more steps up the ladder of music respect and recognition was proven by a sold-out album launch show at St Luke in Glasgow followed by a Top 10 chart placing in the Official Scottish Album Charts for Demons within its first week of release.
That said nothing is guaranteed in the 21st century music world where marketable commodity is valued higher than musical creativity (and that aforementioned ladder is a slippery rung’d bastard).
But those positives do point to the potential break-out success Matt Hickman has always deserved.
Nor is Mr Hickman forgetting his small town/ small venue beginnings; true to his art and love of more intimate performance, he will undertake a Demons Acoustic Album Tour that takes in island venues and locations that tend to be ignored or neglected by bigger promoters and bookers (dates below).
Matt Hickman and Brownbear – shaking off the Demons of an uncertain world, in honest and unashamed Indie-pop style.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The Hickman penned Brownbear sound was first heard (in full studio album terms) on 2018 debut What Is Home?, an acoustic based Indie folk affair that caught some deserved attention.
Now, five years on with an album those same five years in the making (Matt Hickman lyrically tracking through the pandemic, lockdowns, personal experiences and honest social commentary), comes Demons, and even stronger, larger sounding work that has already garnered more attention than the debut.
The album opens with a one-two salvo of Indie power-pop with, first, the rockin’ rhythm of 'All I Want' followed by the Modish big beat of the melodically infectious 'Close Call' (one of a handful of songs on the album to be punctuated with horns of brass effects).
Third number 'Let Your Guard Down' is the acoustic/ Indie-folk side of Brownbear/ Matt Hickman; a warm and charming mid-tempo that lyrically confirms it’s OK to reach out on occasion to a world you feel "has let you down."
'Take Your Time' then delivers some sixties-styled soul-pop groove before the acoustic based, pseudo reggae of 'Telling Stories' offers itself up as the simplest song on the album, but one that’s hard not to smile, foot tap or finger click along to.
The down-tempo break-up title track ("Those Demons, they never seem to go away, so I play…") is not just a surprising highlight, it also sets up the album’s lighter, more reflective and lyrically observational second half.
'Demons' is followed by 'Little White Lies.' The song retains the broken relationship melancholy of the title track but here the relationship is about how long you can be there for someone who is being less than honest about their ‘habits’ ("you fucked up again with the wrong friends – it happens every time; I can’t predict the future but I know how this will end").
'Melodie,' a friendship-love song of sorts, is the mid-tempo acoustic companion piece to 'Let Your Guard Down;' following number, the musically endearing & lyrically soul-baring ballad 'Spin Another Web' is the album's most melancholic and contemplative moment ("When I look in the mirror, will you be looking back… I’m still figuring out how to keep going, when all that I’ve known is the past").
The weightiest number on Demons, certainly lyrically, is closing track 'Unity.'
A rhythmic, gospel-pop plea for equality (yet also celebratory), the song lyrically traces race history, culture and the Black Lives Matter movement which, as Matt Hickman is well aware, is far from something that just materialised in 2020 (albeit that’s when it was so dramatically highlighted).
That Brownbear may have finally and deservedly gotten a couple more steps up the ladder of music respect and recognition was proven by a sold-out album launch show at St Luke in Glasgow followed by a Top 10 chart placing in the Official Scottish Album Charts for Demons within its first week of release.
That said nothing is guaranteed in the 21st century music world where marketable commodity is valued higher than musical creativity (and that aforementioned ladder is a slippery rung’d bastard).
But those positives do point to the potential break-out success Matt Hickman has always deserved.
Nor is Mr Hickman forgetting his small town/ small venue beginnings; true to his art and love of more intimate performance, he will undertake a Demons Acoustic Album Tour that takes in island venues and locations that tend to be ignored or neglected by bigger promoters and bookers (dates below).
Matt Hickman and Brownbear – shaking off the Demons of an uncertain world, in honest and unashamed Indie-pop style.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
David Cowan – Out Of The Dark Part 2
Scottish keyboardist & composer David Cowan (who is also none too shabby behind a drum kit), has so many band duties and gigging obligations (The Sensational Alex Harvey Experience (SAHE), a revamped /Sin Dogs/, new band The Meissner Effect, working with Gerry McAvoy’s Band Of Friends, to name but four) it’s amazing he finds time for his solo projects.
But time has indeed been found for Out Of The Dark Part 2, Cowan’s horror movie/ suspense soundtrack styled follow up to 2020’s Out Of The Dark Part 1, which is currently being remixed for reissue as Out Of The Dark 1.5 (Part 3, time willing, will go into production later this year).
It should also be noted that David Cowan released a four track EP in 2022 entitled Code Red.
Seen as more of a lockdown release/ Part 2 precursor by Cowan, the on-its-own-merits reality is a strong quartet of rock-fusion tunes (guitars, keys and drums leading the instrumental charge) that showcase yet another side of Cowan’s compositional and co-writing skills.
Like the first Out Of The Dark album, Part 2, in the shape of synth & piano driven (and decidedly John Carpenter-esque) opener 'Castle of The Damned,' begins with unsettling dialogue (think Fish in his most sinister narrative mode): "The Castle of the Damned will make its mark. On. You."
Following number 'Psyclone' is an out and out rocker fronted by featured vocalist Peter Scallan (co-writer of a number of the songs and also part of the new /Sin Dogs/); it contrasts quite dramatically with 'Edge of Darkness,' a rock-theatre styled power ballad that sports a tasty solo from guitarist Andy McLaughlan, who features on most of the tracks (McLaughlan, a Code Red contributor, is also part of David Cowan’s new band The Meissner Effect).
'Identity,' featuring David Cowan’s bass playing buddy Nelson McFarlane (SAHE, /Sin Dogs/, The Meissner Effect) flits from cinematic soundtrack passages to the more riff-rugged rock of early 90s era Glenn Hughes.
Next number up is 'Enemies Closer,' which is akin to a darker Toto in rock mode, with impressive guitar and synth solos from Messrs. McLaughlan & Cowan, respectively.
The instrumental 'Tilt,' with its rock-metal meets middle-eastern melodic motifs makes for the most interesting number on the album; it’s followed by the most unsettling of the ten tracks, 'City of Blood,' an eerie vampirical dream-mare with spoken word vocal from Mike Drew ("first you’re a bleeder, then a feeder... once you’re a feeder, forever a needer…"). It also sports a suitably pleading (or perhaps bleeding) guitar solo from guest player Julian Hutson Saxby.
'Driven to Distraction' is cut from the rock-metal meets suspense mould without ever breaking that mould; it does however feature solid drum work from David Cowan and another tasty solo from Andy McLaughlan.
The Instrumental 'Attica' offers up vibrant, melodic synth & guitar rock (with contrasting metal passages that touch on Dream Theater) before the rocker 'In Your System' (a perfect lyrical & soundtrack fit for the Tron movie series) closes out the album.
Such suspense styled works are, by their very soundtrack-tinged nature, quite niche – but given the compositional quality on display (and a clear love of the genre) the hope is David Cowan can step Out Of The Dark and into the light of wider recognition for his solo work.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
But time has indeed been found for Out Of The Dark Part 2, Cowan’s horror movie/ suspense soundtrack styled follow up to 2020’s Out Of The Dark Part 1, which is currently being remixed for reissue as Out Of The Dark 1.5 (Part 3, time willing, will go into production later this year).
It should also be noted that David Cowan released a four track EP in 2022 entitled Code Red.
Seen as more of a lockdown release/ Part 2 precursor by Cowan, the on-its-own-merits reality is a strong quartet of rock-fusion tunes (guitars, keys and drums leading the instrumental charge) that showcase yet another side of Cowan’s compositional and co-writing skills.
Like the first Out Of The Dark album, Part 2, in the shape of synth & piano driven (and decidedly John Carpenter-esque) opener 'Castle of The Damned,' begins with unsettling dialogue (think Fish in his most sinister narrative mode): "The Castle of the Damned will make its mark. On. You."
Following number 'Psyclone' is an out and out rocker fronted by featured vocalist Peter Scallan (co-writer of a number of the songs and also part of the new /Sin Dogs/); it contrasts quite dramatically with 'Edge of Darkness,' a rock-theatre styled power ballad that sports a tasty solo from guitarist Andy McLaughlan, who features on most of the tracks (McLaughlan, a Code Red contributor, is also part of David Cowan’s new band The Meissner Effect).
'Identity,' featuring David Cowan’s bass playing buddy Nelson McFarlane (SAHE, /Sin Dogs/, The Meissner Effect) flits from cinematic soundtrack passages to the more riff-rugged rock of early 90s era Glenn Hughes.
Next number up is 'Enemies Closer,' which is akin to a darker Toto in rock mode, with impressive guitar and synth solos from Messrs. McLaughlan & Cowan, respectively.
The instrumental 'Tilt,' with its rock-metal meets middle-eastern melodic motifs makes for the most interesting number on the album; it’s followed by the most unsettling of the ten tracks, 'City of Blood,' an eerie vampirical dream-mare with spoken word vocal from Mike Drew ("first you’re a bleeder, then a feeder... once you’re a feeder, forever a needer…"). It also sports a suitably pleading (or perhaps bleeding) guitar solo from guest player Julian Hutson Saxby.
'Driven to Distraction' is cut from the rock-metal meets suspense mould without ever breaking that mould; it does however feature solid drum work from David Cowan and another tasty solo from Andy McLaughlan.
The Instrumental 'Attica' offers up vibrant, melodic synth & guitar rock (with contrasting metal passages that touch on Dream Theater) before the rocker 'In Your System' (a perfect lyrical & soundtrack fit for the Tron movie series) closes out the album.
Such suspense styled works are, by their very soundtrack-tinged nature, quite niche – but given the compositional quality on display (and a clear love of the genre) the hope is David Cowan can step Out Of The Dark and into the light of wider recognition for his solo work.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Steve Dawson - Eyes Closed, Dreaming
Nashville based Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Dawson (the Juno award winner is also a producer, sideman, label owner and podcast host) has started 2023 the way he musically entertained/ explored in 2022 with Eyes Closed, Dreaming.
The album is also Dawson's third album in a year, primarily because he had lockdown time to write a large collection of songs during that pandemic restrictive period.
The results were enough material for three albums that collectively make for an enjoyable triple Dawson dovetailing, each with its own identity.
First album of the three, Gone, Long Gone, featured nine songs mostly co-written with Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk; that highly successful team-up led to Steve Dawson’s most all-encompassing release to date – a delicious mix of roots, folk & blues with influences from Nashville to Hawaii.
Phantom Threshold, released five months later, was a wholly instrumental album that featured Steve Dawson’s delightful and deeply immersive pedal steel surrounded by a multitude of keyboards (from moog and mellotron to Wurlitzer and pump organ) that added further sonic textures.
And so to Eyes Closed, Dreaming, released one year after Gone, Long Gone.
Much like that album the third instalment of Steve Dawson’s "pandemic trilogy" is a rootsy and folky affair but with lighter, melodic warmth and a sometimes (as title-reflected) dreamier stylisation; it features four originals co-written with Matt Patershuk and a selection of choice cover interpretations.
Nor does it hurt that Dawson has once again called in the support of friends who happen to be some of the best North American roots musicians around.
Joining the studio/ house band of Gary Craig (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass) and keys players Chris Gestrin & Kevin McKendree are Fats Kaplin & Tim O’Brien (mandolin & strings), Ben Plotnik (viola/ violin), Kaitlyn Raitz (cello), a horn section, drummer Jay Bellerose (five tracks), singer Allison Russell (three tracks) and additional vocals from Keri Latimer & Steve Dawson’s daughter, Casey Dawson.
Opener, the Ian & Sylvia / Great Speckled Bird number 'Long Time to Get Old,' featuring Allison Russell on harmony & backing vocals, has a lovely Nashville inspired country charm about it but it’s simply the appetiser to lighter delicacies.
All four Dawson-Patershuk compositions stand tall as storytelling fulcrum points of the album, from acoustic led roots-country number 'The Gift' and the string accompanied 'Hemingway' to the slightly ethereal acoustic folk-blues of 'The Owl' and memory reflective ballad 'Polaroid,' which title fittingly creates poignant imagery through its lyrics ("I like to think about the way that they were made, light reflected from your face onto this very page, like some real life piece of you trapped in celluloid… Polaroid").
Each of the other covers also make their mark however, from traditional olde folk ballad 'House Carpenter' and a soulful, horns accompanied take of Bobby Charles' 'Small Town Talk' to Cowboy Jack Clement’s 'I Guess Things Happen That Way' (made famous by Johnny Cash) and a delightful solo piece (Steve Dawson and Weissenborn guitar) in the finger picking shape of John Hartford’s 'Let Him Go On Mama.'
As befits the best Steve Dawson albums, there are also a couple of instrumentals – new piece 'Waikiki Stonewall Rag' (think Django Reinhardt in a Hawaiian shirt) and a wonderful jazz cornet to guitar transposition of the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra & Bix Beiderbecke version of 'Singin’ The Blues.'
That this is yet another beautifully crafted release from Steve Dawson (one of his best to date) makes it all the more third-album-in-a-year noteworthy – but that’s not really a surprise, given the quality of Dawson’s catalogue and the esteem and regard with which the multi-talented musician is held in roots music and its broader-scoped, Dawson-ised setting.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The album is also Dawson's third album in a year, primarily because he had lockdown time to write a large collection of songs during that pandemic restrictive period.
The results were enough material for three albums that collectively make for an enjoyable triple Dawson dovetailing, each with its own identity.
First album of the three, Gone, Long Gone, featured nine songs mostly co-written with Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk; that highly successful team-up led to Steve Dawson’s most all-encompassing release to date – a delicious mix of roots, folk & blues with influences from Nashville to Hawaii.
Phantom Threshold, released five months later, was a wholly instrumental album that featured Steve Dawson’s delightful and deeply immersive pedal steel surrounded by a multitude of keyboards (from moog and mellotron to Wurlitzer and pump organ) that added further sonic textures.
And so to Eyes Closed, Dreaming, released one year after Gone, Long Gone.
Much like that album the third instalment of Steve Dawson’s "pandemic trilogy" is a rootsy and folky affair but with lighter, melodic warmth and a sometimes (as title-reflected) dreamier stylisation; it features four originals co-written with Matt Patershuk and a selection of choice cover interpretations.
Nor does it hurt that Dawson has once again called in the support of friends who happen to be some of the best North American roots musicians around.
Joining the studio/ house band of Gary Craig (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass) and keys players Chris Gestrin & Kevin McKendree are Fats Kaplin & Tim O’Brien (mandolin & strings), Ben Plotnik (viola/ violin), Kaitlyn Raitz (cello), a horn section, drummer Jay Bellerose (five tracks), singer Allison Russell (three tracks) and additional vocals from Keri Latimer & Steve Dawson’s daughter, Casey Dawson.
Opener, the Ian & Sylvia / Great Speckled Bird number 'Long Time to Get Old,' featuring Allison Russell on harmony & backing vocals, has a lovely Nashville inspired country charm about it but it’s simply the appetiser to lighter delicacies.
All four Dawson-Patershuk compositions stand tall as storytelling fulcrum points of the album, from acoustic led roots-country number 'The Gift' and the string accompanied 'Hemingway' to the slightly ethereal acoustic folk-blues of 'The Owl' and memory reflective ballad 'Polaroid,' which title fittingly creates poignant imagery through its lyrics ("I like to think about the way that they were made, light reflected from your face onto this very page, like some real life piece of you trapped in celluloid… Polaroid").
Each of the other covers also make their mark however, from traditional olde folk ballad 'House Carpenter' and a soulful, horns accompanied take of Bobby Charles' 'Small Town Talk' to Cowboy Jack Clement’s 'I Guess Things Happen That Way' (made famous by Johnny Cash) and a delightful solo piece (Steve Dawson and Weissenborn guitar) in the finger picking shape of John Hartford’s 'Let Him Go On Mama.'
As befits the best Steve Dawson albums, there are also a couple of instrumentals – new piece 'Waikiki Stonewall Rag' (think Django Reinhardt in a Hawaiian shirt) and a wonderful jazz cornet to guitar transposition of the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra & Bix Beiderbecke version of 'Singin’ The Blues.'
That this is yet another beautifully crafted release from Steve Dawson (one of his best to date) makes it all the more third-album-in-a-year noteworthy – but that’s not really a surprise, given the quality of Dawson’s catalogue and the esteem and regard with which the multi-talented musician is held in roots music and its broader-scoped, Dawson-ised setting.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Elles Bailey - Shining In The Half Light : Deluxe Edition
A re-issue thirteen months after an album’s original release – albeit a nine additional tracks Deluxe Edition – may seem promotionally presumptuous.
But, in the case of roots-blues songstress Elles Bailey and Shining In The Half Light it’s merited, especially given the across the roots and blues rock board acclaim for the album, the genuine demand from fans for more material and it’s dovetailing release with Bailey’s pandemic delayed 2023 spring UK tour.
The pandemic and ensuing lockdowns also play a part on SITHL, as heard on opener 'Cheats and Liars.'
The song, with its chain gang styled backbone, lyrically finger points at governmental indifference toward the arts and artists shackled during recent lockdown times.
It’s an understated yet impacting opening that sets up the broader blues picture of Shining in the Half Light, as laid down by Elles Bailey and her core band of Joe Wilkins (guitars), Jonny Henderson (keys), Matthew Waer (bass), Matthew Jones (drums) and backing singers Izo Fitzroy, Andrusilla Mosely & Jade Elliot (and, on two of the ten songs, guitarist Kris Donegan).
Following number 'The Game' is a rootsy, foot tapping blues delight (with great slide work from Joe Wilkins) while the swampy 'Stones' features clever vocal and guitar tandem lines and sparingly used but highly effective backing vocals (bringing in singer Izo Fitzroy to utilise her talents as a vocal arranger was a mini master stroke).
Kudos here too for the choice of producer – Elles Bailey and rock producer Dan Weller swim in very different musical waters but Weller has captured exactly what Elles Bailey and her band are all about (nod here too for the excellent mix by Steve Blackmon).
The Gospel tinged 'Colours Start to Run' and ballad 'Different Kind of Love' allow the husky tones of Elles Bailey to shine not in half-light but the full spotlight glow of emotive and beautifully phrased vocality (with kudos again to the backing vocals).
The lyrically darker 'Who’s That' is slow, sultry and not a little soul-hypnotic; by contrast 'Sunshine City' is a mighty fine slice of Nashville styled rock and roll with a side of slide boogie.
Even more Nashville is bittersweet blues number 'Halfway House;’ it’s followed by the bluesy AOR soul of 'Riding Out the Storm,' which carries similar regret lyricism ("oh what a beautiful mess we have made of this story… where did it all go wrong?).
The original release closed out on the semi-atmospheric title track, a spacey blues that nods to the half-light of lockdown and lack of contact (given Elles Bailey was six months pregnant at the time of recording, it's fitting the album was also conceived and birthed through lockdown).
Adding to the Half Light mix of the Deluxe Edition are two new originals and two choice covers (here featuring backing vocals from Grace Lightman, Elio Evangelou and Kat Marsh).
'Spinning Stopped' is a delightful and delicate roots-lullaby to becoming a mother in the midst of a pandemic while 'Hole in My Pocket' is a rootsy and rhythmically swaying gem that kicks into high gear for its boogie-gospel finale.
The covers are a great roots 'n' roll take of John Martyn’s travelling home classic 'Over The Hill' and a New Orleans blues styled take of the Creedence Clearwater Revival/ John Fogerty-penned 'Long As I See The Light,' which also lyrically nods to the homeward journey.
Additionally, bowing to fan demand, Miss Bailey and band offer up five SITHL songs recorded live at The Pool.
The quintet are on-point renditions of 'Riding Out The Storm,' 'Stones,' 'The Game,' 'Sunshine City' and a beautifully vocalised 'Halfway House.'
As excellent as SITHL is, the Deluxe Edition has it shining even brighter, in the full blown light of a leading voice (in every way) of British roots blues.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
But, in the case of roots-blues songstress Elles Bailey and Shining In The Half Light it’s merited, especially given the across the roots and blues rock board acclaim for the album, the genuine demand from fans for more material and it’s dovetailing release with Bailey’s pandemic delayed 2023 spring UK tour.
The pandemic and ensuing lockdowns also play a part on SITHL, as heard on opener 'Cheats and Liars.'
The song, with its chain gang styled backbone, lyrically finger points at governmental indifference toward the arts and artists shackled during recent lockdown times.
It’s an understated yet impacting opening that sets up the broader blues picture of Shining in the Half Light, as laid down by Elles Bailey and her core band of Joe Wilkins (guitars), Jonny Henderson (keys), Matthew Waer (bass), Matthew Jones (drums) and backing singers Izo Fitzroy, Andrusilla Mosely & Jade Elliot (and, on two of the ten songs, guitarist Kris Donegan).
Following number 'The Game' is a rootsy, foot tapping blues delight (with great slide work from Joe Wilkins) while the swampy 'Stones' features clever vocal and guitar tandem lines and sparingly used but highly effective backing vocals (bringing in singer Izo Fitzroy to utilise her talents as a vocal arranger was a mini master stroke).
Kudos here too for the choice of producer – Elles Bailey and rock producer Dan Weller swim in very different musical waters but Weller has captured exactly what Elles Bailey and her band are all about (nod here too for the excellent mix by Steve Blackmon).
The Gospel tinged 'Colours Start to Run' and ballad 'Different Kind of Love' allow the husky tones of Elles Bailey to shine not in half-light but the full spotlight glow of emotive and beautifully phrased vocality (with kudos again to the backing vocals).
The lyrically darker 'Who’s That' is slow, sultry and not a little soul-hypnotic; by contrast 'Sunshine City' is a mighty fine slice of Nashville styled rock and roll with a side of slide boogie.
Even more Nashville is bittersweet blues number 'Halfway House;’ it’s followed by the bluesy AOR soul of 'Riding Out the Storm,' which carries similar regret lyricism ("oh what a beautiful mess we have made of this story… where did it all go wrong?).
The original release closed out on the semi-atmospheric title track, a spacey blues that nods to the half-light of lockdown and lack of contact (given Elles Bailey was six months pregnant at the time of recording, it's fitting the album was also conceived and birthed through lockdown).
Adding to the Half Light mix of the Deluxe Edition are two new originals and two choice covers (here featuring backing vocals from Grace Lightman, Elio Evangelou and Kat Marsh).
'Spinning Stopped' is a delightful and delicate roots-lullaby to becoming a mother in the midst of a pandemic while 'Hole in My Pocket' is a rootsy and rhythmically swaying gem that kicks into high gear for its boogie-gospel finale.
The covers are a great roots 'n' roll take of John Martyn’s travelling home classic 'Over The Hill' and a New Orleans blues styled take of the Creedence Clearwater Revival/ John Fogerty-penned 'Long As I See The Light,' which also lyrically nods to the homeward journey.
Additionally, bowing to fan demand, Miss Bailey and band offer up five SITHL songs recorded live at The Pool.
The quintet are on-point renditions of 'Riding Out The Storm,' 'Stones,' 'The Game,' 'Sunshine City' and a beautifully vocalised 'Halfway House.'
As excellent as SITHL is, the Deluxe Edition has it shining even brighter, in the full blown light of a leading voice (in every way) of British roots blues.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Gamma – What’s Gone is Gone : Complete Elektra Recordings 1979-1982
Late, great and hugely influential American guitarist Ronnie Montrose is associated, first & foremost, with the band that carried his surname; more specifically the hugely impacting debut album that featured a young singer by the name of Sammy Hagar.
But there’s more to Ronnie Montrose than the band with his name emblazoned across the album covers.
Musically creative and forward thinking, Ronnie Montrose looked to inject a musical freshness to whatever he was doing, typified by post-Montrose band Gamma, who carried both new wave and bluesy, hard rock sensibilities within their music.
Like the original/ Hagar led Montrose, a great rock voice fronted Gamma, in this case the bluesier rock vocality of Scottish born singer Davey Pattison, who co-formed the band with Ronnie Montrose.
(Pattison, who would go on to have stints with Robin Trower, Michael Schenker (the Schenker Pattison Summit) and a couple of later Gamma incarnations, is back out there rocking with his own band).
The band's 1979 debut album, Gamma 1, opened with the weighty and rock funky 'Thunder and Lighting.'
It’s a song that would have sat fairly comfortably on a post-Hagar Montrose album but here acts as the perfect opener to introduce the musically adventurous Gamma.
'Thunder and Lightning' also allowed Davey Pattison to make his vocal mark, as do tracks such as the darker rock atmosphere of 'Razor King,' Pattison's self-penned 'No Tears' (akin to an AOR styled Bad Company) and the bluesy, organ backed take of Mickey Newbury’s 'Wish I Was.'
Completing the line-up on Gamma 1 were ex Montrose musicians Alan Fitzgerald (bass) and Jim Alcivar (synths), with Skip Gillette on drums; all added their respective skill sets to songs such as the pop-rock of the Clint Ballard Jr. penned Hollies hit 'I’m Alive,' short instrumental 'Solar Heat' (guitars, keys and bass to the fusionistic fore) and the punchy rock and roll of 'Ready For Action,' with Ronnie Montrose displaying his fast-fingered six-string chops.
The album closes out on the impressive light & shade/ keys & guitar led 'Fight to the Finish,' but there’s also a bonus track on this boxset edition from HNE Recordings/ Cherry Red Records by way of the mono single edit of 'I’m Alive' (albeit its inclusion will only be of interest to the completest).
Second album Gamma 2 (1980) opens in seriously impacting fashion with the rock solid 'Mean Streak,' the galloping pace of 'Four Horsemen' and 'Dirty City' (think Foreigner at their grittiest); but it also sports a change of line-up (a Ronnie Montrose album-to-album trait) with Glenn Letsch now on bass and another ex-Montrose member, Denny Carmassi, on drums.
Other highlights from the band's second album include the moody, blues swaying 'Voyager' (with tasty solo from Ronnie Montrose), a rockier cover of Thunderclap Newman’s hit single 'Something in the Air,' the mid-tempo muscle of 'Skin And Bone' and fast 'n' feisty guitar & synths led 'Mayday.'
There’s also three bonus tracks (a mono single edit of 'Something in the Air' and two single edits of 'Voyager') but, again, are for the completest only.
Gamma signed off in 1982 with Gamma 3 (innovative album titles were not the band’s forte).
With Mitchell Froom now on keyboards Gamma’s final hurrah in their original run carried commercial/ melodic rock appeal but still with their own sound, typified by bright, tempo-shifting opener 'What’s Gone is Gone' and minor US chart hit (and Top 30 in Canada), 'Right The First Time.'
The other album single, the new wave rock-pop of 'Stranger,' isn't a million notes away from The Cars.
The rhythmic and synthy 'Moving Violation' returned to the Gamma-rock of the previous album, while the atmospheric 'Mobile Devotion' cleverly mixes both new wave, rock and prog.
Other highlights include synth-driven instrumental 'Condition Yellow,' the acoustic-led synth-pop of 'Modern Girl' and the moodier, keyboard heavy (and Foreigner-esque) 'Third Degree.'
Again, there's a couple of mono single edits as bonus tracks but both should make judicious use of the 'skip' button.
Gamma should have garnered a wider audience and more success but lack of promotion from Elektra, coupled with a changing musical climate in the US (the late 70s rock to early 80s AOR transition) scuppered their chances; the band split in 1983.
Gamma 4, released in 2000 and featuring Montrose, Pattison, Letsch, Carmassi and keys player Ed Roth, made for a strong reunion/ comeback.
Twelve years later, following the sad passing of Ronnie Montrose, the original members, plus Marc Bonilla on guitar, performed a memorial concert in San Francisco.
Beyond that memorial show a new line-up, built around Davey Pattison, performed a number of gigs including notable performances with Deep Purple in 2014 and Boston in 2016.
But it’s that original trio of Gamma albums that still stand proud and musically strong as a classic rock case of not what's gone is gone, but what could and should have been.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
But there’s more to Ronnie Montrose than the band with his name emblazoned across the album covers.
Musically creative and forward thinking, Ronnie Montrose looked to inject a musical freshness to whatever he was doing, typified by post-Montrose band Gamma, who carried both new wave and bluesy, hard rock sensibilities within their music.
Like the original/ Hagar led Montrose, a great rock voice fronted Gamma, in this case the bluesier rock vocality of Scottish born singer Davey Pattison, who co-formed the band with Ronnie Montrose.
(Pattison, who would go on to have stints with Robin Trower, Michael Schenker (the Schenker Pattison Summit) and a couple of later Gamma incarnations, is back out there rocking with his own band).
The band's 1979 debut album, Gamma 1, opened with the weighty and rock funky 'Thunder and Lighting.'
It’s a song that would have sat fairly comfortably on a post-Hagar Montrose album but here acts as the perfect opener to introduce the musically adventurous Gamma.
'Thunder and Lightning' also allowed Davey Pattison to make his vocal mark, as do tracks such as the darker rock atmosphere of 'Razor King,' Pattison's self-penned 'No Tears' (akin to an AOR styled Bad Company) and the bluesy, organ backed take of Mickey Newbury’s 'Wish I Was.'
Completing the line-up on Gamma 1 were ex Montrose musicians Alan Fitzgerald (bass) and Jim Alcivar (synths), with Skip Gillette on drums; all added their respective skill sets to songs such as the pop-rock of the Clint Ballard Jr. penned Hollies hit 'I’m Alive,' short instrumental 'Solar Heat' (guitars, keys and bass to the fusionistic fore) and the punchy rock and roll of 'Ready For Action,' with Ronnie Montrose displaying his fast-fingered six-string chops.
The album closes out on the impressive light & shade/ keys & guitar led 'Fight to the Finish,' but there’s also a bonus track on this boxset edition from HNE Recordings/ Cherry Red Records by way of the mono single edit of 'I’m Alive' (albeit its inclusion will only be of interest to the completest).
Second album Gamma 2 (1980) opens in seriously impacting fashion with the rock solid 'Mean Streak,' the galloping pace of 'Four Horsemen' and 'Dirty City' (think Foreigner at their grittiest); but it also sports a change of line-up (a Ronnie Montrose album-to-album trait) with Glenn Letsch now on bass and another ex-Montrose member, Denny Carmassi, on drums.
Other highlights from the band's second album include the moody, blues swaying 'Voyager' (with tasty solo from Ronnie Montrose), a rockier cover of Thunderclap Newman’s hit single 'Something in the Air,' the mid-tempo muscle of 'Skin And Bone' and fast 'n' feisty guitar & synths led 'Mayday.'
There’s also three bonus tracks (a mono single edit of 'Something in the Air' and two single edits of 'Voyager') but, again, are for the completest only.
Gamma signed off in 1982 with Gamma 3 (innovative album titles were not the band’s forte).
With Mitchell Froom now on keyboards Gamma’s final hurrah in their original run carried commercial/ melodic rock appeal but still with their own sound, typified by bright, tempo-shifting opener 'What’s Gone is Gone' and minor US chart hit (and Top 30 in Canada), 'Right The First Time.'
The other album single, the new wave rock-pop of 'Stranger,' isn't a million notes away from The Cars.
The rhythmic and synthy 'Moving Violation' returned to the Gamma-rock of the previous album, while the atmospheric 'Mobile Devotion' cleverly mixes both new wave, rock and prog.
Other highlights include synth-driven instrumental 'Condition Yellow,' the acoustic-led synth-pop of 'Modern Girl' and the moodier, keyboard heavy (and Foreigner-esque) 'Third Degree.'
Again, there's a couple of mono single edits as bonus tracks but both should make judicious use of the 'skip' button.
Gamma should have garnered a wider audience and more success but lack of promotion from Elektra, coupled with a changing musical climate in the US (the late 70s rock to early 80s AOR transition) scuppered their chances; the band split in 1983.
Gamma 4, released in 2000 and featuring Montrose, Pattison, Letsch, Carmassi and keys player Ed Roth, made for a strong reunion/ comeback.
Twelve years later, following the sad passing of Ronnie Montrose, the original members, plus Marc Bonilla on guitar, performed a memorial concert in San Francisco.
Beyond that memorial show a new line-up, built around Davey Pattison, performed a number of gigs including notable performances with Deep Purple in 2014 and Boston in 2016.
But it’s that original trio of Gamma albums that still stand proud and musically strong as a classic rock case of not what's gone is gone, but what could and should have been.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Robin George – Ace In My Hand
It’s not overstating the musical point to say Ace In My Hand (or selected tracks from it) should have been the early 80s creative hard rock meets melodic pop debut from singer-guitarist-producer Robin George.
However fate, circumstance and a label (Arista) that perhaps wasn’t sure how to market such a distinct sounding, genre-crossing musician (Robin George found debut release success with Bronze Records a couple of years later) mean it’s only now the entirety* of George's earliest session recordings are seeing the light of musical day.
(*Containing 24 remastered songs recorded between 1979 and 1981, Ace In My Hand definitively eclipses the selected tracks History compilation released by Angel Air back in 2014).
Robin George’s first official release was in 1983 with the 6 track History EP, featuring the defiant, heavy pop-sheened 'Go Down Fighting' (which features here).
That EP was followed in 1984 by debut album Dangerous Music, which included the melodically charged and still-vibrant single 'Heartline,' a song that encapsulated the "Robin George sound" of rock guitars and big drums dovetailing with hard pop and harmony-laden hook choruses.
Ace In My Hand therefore becomes the debut that never was, one that features quite the cast list.
Among the dozen or so contributors are Dave Holland and George’s long-time drum compadre Charlie Morgan, saxophonist Mel Collins, Pino Palladino (who features on the aforementioned 'Go Down Fighting'), Mark Stanway (pop singer Daniel 'Beautiful Sunday' Boone also plays keys) and backing vocals from the likes of Boone, Chris Thompson and Mo Birch.
It's also interesting to note that the track running order is simply placed alphabetically.
It’s a no particular order ploy that works very well, with each song having a little quirk, style change or nuance that separates it from the next – from the T-Rex/ Bolan-esque hook-rock of the title track and spacier, soul-vibed 'Castles in the Sky' (one of many tracks George would revisit/ re-record for later albums) through to the reggae-rock of 'Too Late' and the 80s pop-rock of 'Tragedy' (one of three co-writes with Daniel Boone).
The rock side of Robin George is well catered for via tracks such as big-beat number 'Get On Your Knees And Pray,' 'She Really Blew My Mind' and 'Chance of a Lifetime' (written with one-time Uriah Heep vocalist Pete Goalby, as was the lighter & radio friendly 'Mona Lisa Smile') while the reflective, acoustic backed 'Johnny,' charming pop-rock ballad 'Losing You' and the pop-soulful 'Lying On My Telephone' showcase that while Robin George has a sound, he has multiple styles.
There’s also the chance to hear and enjoy the original version of 'Heartline,' while other nuggets include 'I Believed In You' (a power-chord rock ballad with choral chorus harmonies), the heavy electro-rock of 'Machine,' the bluesier gospel styled 'Run In The Dark' and the glam rock 'n' roll fun of Streetwise.'
Had Ace In My Hand been a full blown debut in 1981 or 1982 it may well have set Robin George on his way to becoming a force in 80s British rock, as opposed to the nearly man with should-have-been-bigger band projects such as The Byron Band, Notorious (with ex Diamond Head vocalist Sean Harris) and supergroup Damage Control (Robin George, Spike, Pete Way, Chris Slade).
There's also been a slew of near misses including being part of a potential Trapeze reunion around the time these sessions were recorded, chosen as the guitarist for a reformed Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott and Brian Downey (tragically never to be) and joining what would have been either a revamped Asia or new band project with John Wetton.
But through all such could-have-beens Robin George always carried an Ace in his solo artist hand.
And trust me, he still has a few more up his sleeve.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Ace In My Hand is the first in a series of Robin George back catalogue/ archive re-releases from HNE Recordings/ Cherry Red Records.
It is available now at https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/robin-george-ace-in-my-hand-2cd/
However fate, circumstance and a label (Arista) that perhaps wasn’t sure how to market such a distinct sounding, genre-crossing musician (Robin George found debut release success with Bronze Records a couple of years later) mean it’s only now the entirety* of George's earliest session recordings are seeing the light of musical day.
(*Containing 24 remastered songs recorded between 1979 and 1981, Ace In My Hand definitively eclipses the selected tracks History compilation released by Angel Air back in 2014).
Robin George’s first official release was in 1983 with the 6 track History EP, featuring the defiant, heavy pop-sheened 'Go Down Fighting' (which features here).
That EP was followed in 1984 by debut album Dangerous Music, which included the melodically charged and still-vibrant single 'Heartline,' a song that encapsulated the "Robin George sound" of rock guitars and big drums dovetailing with hard pop and harmony-laden hook choruses.
Ace In My Hand therefore becomes the debut that never was, one that features quite the cast list.
Among the dozen or so contributors are Dave Holland and George’s long-time drum compadre Charlie Morgan, saxophonist Mel Collins, Pino Palladino (who features on the aforementioned 'Go Down Fighting'), Mark Stanway (pop singer Daniel 'Beautiful Sunday' Boone also plays keys) and backing vocals from the likes of Boone, Chris Thompson and Mo Birch.
It's also interesting to note that the track running order is simply placed alphabetically.
It’s a no particular order ploy that works very well, with each song having a little quirk, style change or nuance that separates it from the next – from the T-Rex/ Bolan-esque hook-rock of the title track and spacier, soul-vibed 'Castles in the Sky' (one of many tracks George would revisit/ re-record for later albums) through to the reggae-rock of 'Too Late' and the 80s pop-rock of 'Tragedy' (one of three co-writes with Daniel Boone).
The rock side of Robin George is well catered for via tracks such as big-beat number 'Get On Your Knees And Pray,' 'She Really Blew My Mind' and 'Chance of a Lifetime' (written with one-time Uriah Heep vocalist Pete Goalby, as was the lighter & radio friendly 'Mona Lisa Smile') while the reflective, acoustic backed 'Johnny,' charming pop-rock ballad 'Losing You' and the pop-soulful 'Lying On My Telephone' showcase that while Robin George has a sound, he has multiple styles.
There’s also the chance to hear and enjoy the original version of 'Heartline,' while other nuggets include 'I Believed In You' (a power-chord rock ballad with choral chorus harmonies), the heavy electro-rock of 'Machine,' the bluesier gospel styled 'Run In The Dark' and the glam rock 'n' roll fun of Streetwise.'
Had Ace In My Hand been a full blown debut in 1981 or 1982 it may well have set Robin George on his way to becoming a force in 80s British rock, as opposed to the nearly man with should-have-been-bigger band projects such as The Byron Band, Notorious (with ex Diamond Head vocalist Sean Harris) and supergroup Damage Control (Robin George, Spike, Pete Way, Chris Slade).
There's also been a slew of near misses including being part of a potential Trapeze reunion around the time these sessions were recorded, chosen as the guitarist for a reformed Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott and Brian Downey (tragically never to be) and joining what would have been either a revamped Asia or new band project with John Wetton.
But through all such could-have-beens Robin George always carried an Ace in his solo artist hand.
And trust me, he still has a few more up his sleeve.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Ace In My Hand is the first in a series of Robin George back catalogue/ archive re-releases from HNE Recordings/ Cherry Red Records.
It is available now at https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/robin-george-ace-in-my-hand-2cd/
Paul Gilbert – The Dio Album
There has been many a Ronnie James Dio musical celebration or homage, from official DIO tribute to great band in their own right Last In Line, to cover bands that keep the legacy of the little guy with the huge pipes alive and revered.
But renowned rock guitarist Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X, solo) has "vocalised" some of the best songs from Dio’s classic catalogue in a way like no other.
As just about every rock and rock guitar fan will have realised before hearing so much of a note of The Dio Album, Paul Gilbert’s respectful yet highly original homage comes by way of his six-string skills, whereby Gilbert emulates Ronnie James Dio’s vocal, vocal lines and vocal melodies through his guitar and the tonal choices and effects.
Anyone who has heard Gilbert play will be very much aware he’s a fast and fluid shredder par excellence but he’s also a very melodic and indeed "lyrical" player; in the case of the latter, as heard here, almost literally.
With guitar in hand and foot never too far away from the pedal board, Paul Gilbert plays and guitar-sings the Dio classics right from the power-down, high gear get-go via the triple salvo of 'Neon Knights,' 'Kill the King' and an especially lyrical 'Stand Up And Shout' (thus immediately nodding to Ronnie James Dio’s rock triumvirate of Black Sabbath, Rainbow and DIO); each lead vocal melody line is cleverly nuanced to emulate Dio’s lead vocal, including vocal phrasing and word (or in this case note) emphasis.
This means Paul Gilbert is also taking on the recognised and highly regarded guitar roles – particularly in terms of famous riffs and solos – of Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore and Vivian Campbell.
He does this with both respect and aplomb, but also manages to put his own six-string spin on the solos without straying too far away from what made them guitar and vocal classics in the first place.
Other highlights across the album’s twelve tracks include the weighty, mid-tempo muscle of a particularly impressive 'Last In Line,' 'Holy Diver' (including Dio’s trademark "Mmmhmm" intro) and Sabbath’s 'Heaven and Hell,' as well as the Rainbow trio of 'Long Live Rock And Roll,' 'Man On the Silver Mountain' and 'Starstruck.'
On the face of it this may seem like a strange idea or notion for an album in tribute to one of the great rock voices, the idea for which came from nothing more than Paul Gilbert seeing a baseball cap emblazoned with the DIO name/ logo as he was driving in his car one day (instantly recalling the Dio legacy, the tribute seeds were sown).
But Paul Gilbert is no stranger to instrumental music and, along with his clear love of the material (which also gave him the chance to play "metal rhythm" for the first time in a long time; additionally he plays all instruments other than the rock solid drum work from Bill Ray), he’s delivered an album that’s a worthy addition to his own solo catalogue, as well as putting new "voice" to the Dio classics.
And, of course, it's the perfect sing-a-long / rawk-karaoke album for all Dio aficionados.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
But renowned rock guitarist Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X, solo) has "vocalised" some of the best songs from Dio’s classic catalogue in a way like no other.
As just about every rock and rock guitar fan will have realised before hearing so much of a note of The Dio Album, Paul Gilbert’s respectful yet highly original homage comes by way of his six-string skills, whereby Gilbert emulates Ronnie James Dio’s vocal, vocal lines and vocal melodies through his guitar and the tonal choices and effects.
Anyone who has heard Gilbert play will be very much aware he’s a fast and fluid shredder par excellence but he’s also a very melodic and indeed "lyrical" player; in the case of the latter, as heard here, almost literally.
With guitar in hand and foot never too far away from the pedal board, Paul Gilbert plays and guitar-sings the Dio classics right from the power-down, high gear get-go via the triple salvo of 'Neon Knights,' 'Kill the King' and an especially lyrical 'Stand Up And Shout' (thus immediately nodding to Ronnie James Dio’s rock triumvirate of Black Sabbath, Rainbow and DIO); each lead vocal melody line is cleverly nuanced to emulate Dio’s lead vocal, including vocal phrasing and word (or in this case note) emphasis.
This means Paul Gilbert is also taking on the recognised and highly regarded guitar roles – particularly in terms of famous riffs and solos – of Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore and Vivian Campbell.
He does this with both respect and aplomb, but also manages to put his own six-string spin on the solos without straying too far away from what made them guitar and vocal classics in the first place.
Other highlights across the album’s twelve tracks include the weighty, mid-tempo muscle of a particularly impressive 'Last In Line,' 'Holy Diver' (including Dio’s trademark "Mmmhmm" intro) and Sabbath’s 'Heaven and Hell,' as well as the Rainbow trio of 'Long Live Rock And Roll,' 'Man On the Silver Mountain' and 'Starstruck.'
On the face of it this may seem like a strange idea or notion for an album in tribute to one of the great rock voices, the idea for which came from nothing more than Paul Gilbert seeing a baseball cap emblazoned with the DIO name/ logo as he was driving in his car one day (instantly recalling the Dio legacy, the tribute seeds were sown).
But Paul Gilbert is no stranger to instrumental music and, along with his clear love of the material (which also gave him the chance to play "metal rhythm" for the first time in a long time; additionally he plays all instruments other than the rock solid drum work from Bill Ray), he’s delivered an album that’s a worthy addition to his own solo catalogue, as well as putting new "voice" to the Dio classics.
And, of course, it's the perfect sing-a-long / rawk-karaoke album for all Dio aficionados.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Girlschool – The School Report 1978-2008 (5CD Box Set)
As in-depth, across the decades anthologies go, Cherry Red Records have certainly done their homework to obtain an A+ mark for The School Report.
This all-encompassing, six hour collection covers the first thirty years of British rock/metal band Girlschool, who are still going strong with original members/ ever-presents Kim McAuliffe (vocals/ guitars) and Denise Dufort (drums) in the company of Jackie Chambers (lead guitars, vocals) and Tracey Lamb (bass, vocals).
The 5CD set charts the band from their Painted Lady pub-rock beginnings to becoming queens of 80s heavy metal rock and roll, and on to the noughties when so many old-school rock and New Wave Of British Heavy Metal acts, becalmed in the musically changing 90s, saw a resurgence due a new found appreciation for classic rock (which helped give birth to the New Wave of Classic Rock movement).
The first two CDs (combining 44 tracks) present a definitive Best Of Girlschool's prolific first decade, from 1979 and the punky rock and roll of debut single 'Take it All Away,' to four songs from the band’s seventh studio album, 1988’s Take a Bite, including the synth punctuated, rhythmic rock of 'Head Over Heels.'
In between those tracks you'll find cuts such as the lyrically darker & metal-edged 'The Hunter;' the Def Leppard influenced 'Play Dirty;' 'Running Wild' & 'Love is a Lie' from the somewhat (then label) enforced attempts to have the band sound like Pat Benatar and look like The Runaways; the grittier and punkier 'All Day All Night' & 'Let’s Go Crazy;' the band's rollicking covers of 'Race With The Devil,' 'Tush,' '20th Century Boy,' a slightly tempered lyrical take of Slade’s 'Burning in the Heat (of Love)' plus, of course, 'Please Don’t Touch' from the St Valentines Day Massacre EP, recorded with Motörhead and released under the moniker Headgirl.
(Motörhead related, and as the accompanying 60 page booklet (which narrates to the present day) confirms, Lemmy was a big fan and influential in helping the band move up the rock and roll ladder in the early years).
The 16 song CD3 charts the band’s 90s and noughties output up to their 2008 album Legacy, which celebrated the band’s 30th anniversary (making them the longest running all-female metal band in activity).
21st century Girlschool tracks making an impact here include the double-time hard rock ‘n’ roll of 'Innocent,' the upbeat hard rock of 'Legend' (dedicated to original lead guitarist Kelly Johnson, who sadly passed in 2007), the rugged metal of 'I Spy' (featuring Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi) and a cover of Motörhead’s 'Metropolis,' with guitar solo by Eddie Clarke.
The 90s were a leaner time for many a classic rock or metal act but that didn’t stop bands such as Girlschool from delivering the goods, as heard on 'Can’t Say No' (the sort of guitar-howling song Bernie Tormé would have loved to have called his own) and punky NWOBHM throwback number 'Can’t Do That' from the band's 1992’s self-titled album.
CD4 is the musical flip-side of Girlschool, collecting as it does 13 B-sides, live cuts and EP tracks from 1980 to 1983, plus 10 demos spanning from 1978 (a cover of the Rolling Stones 'Let’s Spend The Night Together' and an original entitled 'Just Don’t Care' when the band were still Painted Lady) to 2002 and the punchy, "woah-oh" fun of 'London' (which would feature on Legacy six years later).
Completing the set is a fifth disc containing a very rare, 20 song live performance from Painted Lady in 1978, just before changing their name to Girlschool.
A typical pub-rock band covers set ('All Right Now,' 'Smoke On The Water,' 'Johnny B. Goode,' 'Honky Tonk Women,' 'Hey Joe,' et al), and even with the bootleg audio and inevitable young-band-just-starting-out flubs, the performance hints at bigger things for a then embryonic band that would become one of the most enduring all-female rock/ metal acts.
And that, music pupils, is the comprehensive School Report.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
This all-encompassing, six hour collection covers the first thirty years of British rock/metal band Girlschool, who are still going strong with original members/ ever-presents Kim McAuliffe (vocals/ guitars) and Denise Dufort (drums) in the company of Jackie Chambers (lead guitars, vocals) and Tracey Lamb (bass, vocals).
The 5CD set charts the band from their Painted Lady pub-rock beginnings to becoming queens of 80s heavy metal rock and roll, and on to the noughties when so many old-school rock and New Wave Of British Heavy Metal acts, becalmed in the musically changing 90s, saw a resurgence due a new found appreciation for classic rock (which helped give birth to the New Wave of Classic Rock movement).
The first two CDs (combining 44 tracks) present a definitive Best Of Girlschool's prolific first decade, from 1979 and the punky rock and roll of debut single 'Take it All Away,' to four songs from the band’s seventh studio album, 1988’s Take a Bite, including the synth punctuated, rhythmic rock of 'Head Over Heels.'
In between those tracks you'll find cuts such as the lyrically darker & metal-edged 'The Hunter;' the Def Leppard influenced 'Play Dirty;' 'Running Wild' & 'Love is a Lie' from the somewhat (then label) enforced attempts to have the band sound like Pat Benatar and look like The Runaways; the grittier and punkier 'All Day All Night' & 'Let’s Go Crazy;' the band's rollicking covers of 'Race With The Devil,' 'Tush,' '20th Century Boy,' a slightly tempered lyrical take of Slade’s 'Burning in the Heat (of Love)' plus, of course, 'Please Don’t Touch' from the St Valentines Day Massacre EP, recorded with Motörhead and released under the moniker Headgirl.
(Motörhead related, and as the accompanying 60 page booklet (which narrates to the present day) confirms, Lemmy was a big fan and influential in helping the band move up the rock and roll ladder in the early years).
The 16 song CD3 charts the band’s 90s and noughties output up to their 2008 album Legacy, which celebrated the band’s 30th anniversary (making them the longest running all-female metal band in activity).
21st century Girlschool tracks making an impact here include the double-time hard rock ‘n’ roll of 'Innocent,' the upbeat hard rock of 'Legend' (dedicated to original lead guitarist Kelly Johnson, who sadly passed in 2007), the rugged metal of 'I Spy' (featuring Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi) and a cover of Motörhead’s 'Metropolis,' with guitar solo by Eddie Clarke.
The 90s were a leaner time for many a classic rock or metal act but that didn’t stop bands such as Girlschool from delivering the goods, as heard on 'Can’t Say No' (the sort of guitar-howling song Bernie Tormé would have loved to have called his own) and punky NWOBHM throwback number 'Can’t Do That' from the band's 1992’s self-titled album.
CD4 is the musical flip-side of Girlschool, collecting as it does 13 B-sides, live cuts and EP tracks from 1980 to 1983, plus 10 demos spanning from 1978 (a cover of the Rolling Stones 'Let’s Spend The Night Together' and an original entitled 'Just Don’t Care' when the band were still Painted Lady) to 2002 and the punchy, "woah-oh" fun of 'London' (which would feature on Legacy six years later).
Completing the set is a fifth disc containing a very rare, 20 song live performance from Painted Lady in 1978, just before changing their name to Girlschool.
A typical pub-rock band covers set ('All Right Now,' 'Smoke On The Water,' 'Johnny B. Goode,' 'Honky Tonk Women,' 'Hey Joe,' et al), and even with the bootleg audio and inevitable young-band-just-starting-out flubs, the performance hints at bigger things for a then embryonic band that would become one of the most enduring all-female rock/ metal acts.
And that, music pupils, is the comprehensive School Report.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Hawkwind – The Future Never Waits
The Future Never Waits, and neither do Hawkwind it seems, who have become quite prolific of late.
This is the band's fifth studio album (six when including the Hawkwind Light Orchestra lockdown album Carnivorous) in seven years, along with two live albums and a 6CD 50th Anniversary anthology in that same time-frame.
But, for those of us of a space-rock age, you learn to approach a new Hawkwind studio album with a healthy mix of trepidation and excitement because, let's be honest, they have dropped the ball on occasion (the late 90s and early noughties immediately come to mind).
Thankfully The Future Never Waits (the first studio album to feature the seemingly ageless Dave Brock (guitars, vocals, keys), 35 year Hawkwind veteran Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals) and Magnus Martin (guitars, vocals, keys) in the company of new Hawk-boys Doug MacKinnon (bass) and Thighpaulsandra (aka Welsh experimental musician Tim Lewis) on synths and keys) shows that, even in their 54th year (with about the same number of band members and line ups), they can still surprise with something just that little bit different, yet still unmistakably Hawkwind.
The album opens with the ambient and wholly instrumental title track, a synth laden, ten-minute tick-tock of time that’s guaranteed to catch a few fans out, especially those expecting or anticipating the chugging rhythm or wailing lead lines of Dave Brock’s guitar to kick in (which never happens).
'The End,' however, does indeed feature those trademark vocals and thick, chugging riffs before further surprises appear in the shape of, first, 'Aldous Huxley,' a dreamier, synths & piano piece named after and based around (via audio samples of old recordings) the famous English writer & philosopher of Brave New World fame.
The primarily instrumental 'They Are So Easily Distracted' (ten minutes of futuristic lounge-jazz meeting ambient space-rock in the company of piano, synths, saxophone and melodically employed guitar solos) is another departure of sorts but this is what Hawkwind are good at – they can throw something new and different into the mix and yet it’s still, unmistakably, a Hawkwind song.
The sci-fi slanted and space grooving 'Rama (The Prophecy),' which opens with a line from cult classic B-movie The Brain From Planet Arous (1957), harkens back to early 80s Hawkwind (no bad thing).
The spacey blues of instrumental 'USB1' then acts as a mid-album interlude before 'Outside of Time' offers unearthly, spacey ambience.
'I’m Learning To Live Today' is the closest Hawkwind come to the heavy space-rock of yesteryear (certainly in terms of guitars & synth-scapes) but the musical reality is there’s very little on this album to remind of that era; it will therefore be interesting to see how the "purists" (i.e. the prog-warriors still stuck On the Edge of 70s Time) take to this album.
The eight-and-a-half minute 'The Beginning' and the much shorter 'Trapped in This Modern Age' make for a musically interesting and intriguing finale.
The former opens in highly disconcerting and dark style (a voice telling you to "upload your consciousness here and leave your body at the door marked incinerator" is disembodied punishment for those whose carbon based physicality made a mess of the environment) before a tangential shift takes the song into piano & acoustic backed psychedelic Beatles/ ELO/ lower-voiced Bee Gees territory.
'Trapped in This Modern Age' continues that classic-pop theme but this time with a discernible Lynne & Wood ELO vibe (one that’s not too far removed from '10538 Overture').
If, after more than half-a-century you think you've heard it all from Hawkwind... think again.
Campbell Stewart & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
This is the band's fifth studio album (six when including the Hawkwind Light Orchestra lockdown album Carnivorous) in seven years, along with two live albums and a 6CD 50th Anniversary anthology in that same time-frame.
But, for those of us of a space-rock age, you learn to approach a new Hawkwind studio album with a healthy mix of trepidation and excitement because, let's be honest, they have dropped the ball on occasion (the late 90s and early noughties immediately come to mind).
Thankfully The Future Never Waits (the first studio album to feature the seemingly ageless Dave Brock (guitars, vocals, keys), 35 year Hawkwind veteran Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals) and Magnus Martin (guitars, vocals, keys) in the company of new Hawk-boys Doug MacKinnon (bass) and Thighpaulsandra (aka Welsh experimental musician Tim Lewis) on synths and keys) shows that, even in their 54th year (with about the same number of band members and line ups), they can still surprise with something just that little bit different, yet still unmistakably Hawkwind.
The album opens with the ambient and wholly instrumental title track, a synth laden, ten-minute tick-tock of time that’s guaranteed to catch a few fans out, especially those expecting or anticipating the chugging rhythm or wailing lead lines of Dave Brock’s guitar to kick in (which never happens).
'The End,' however, does indeed feature those trademark vocals and thick, chugging riffs before further surprises appear in the shape of, first, 'Aldous Huxley,' a dreamier, synths & piano piece named after and based around (via audio samples of old recordings) the famous English writer & philosopher of Brave New World fame.
The primarily instrumental 'They Are So Easily Distracted' (ten minutes of futuristic lounge-jazz meeting ambient space-rock in the company of piano, synths, saxophone and melodically employed guitar solos) is another departure of sorts but this is what Hawkwind are good at – they can throw something new and different into the mix and yet it’s still, unmistakably, a Hawkwind song.
The sci-fi slanted and space grooving 'Rama (The Prophecy),' which opens with a line from cult classic B-movie The Brain From Planet Arous (1957), harkens back to early 80s Hawkwind (no bad thing).
The spacey blues of instrumental 'USB1' then acts as a mid-album interlude before 'Outside of Time' offers unearthly, spacey ambience.
'I’m Learning To Live Today' is the closest Hawkwind come to the heavy space-rock of yesteryear (certainly in terms of guitars & synth-scapes) but the musical reality is there’s very little on this album to remind of that era; it will therefore be interesting to see how the "purists" (i.e. the prog-warriors still stuck On the Edge of 70s Time) take to this album.
The eight-and-a-half minute 'The Beginning' and the much shorter 'Trapped in This Modern Age' make for a musically interesting and intriguing finale.
The former opens in highly disconcerting and dark style (a voice telling you to "upload your consciousness here and leave your body at the door marked incinerator" is disembodied punishment for those whose carbon based physicality made a mess of the environment) before a tangential shift takes the song into piano & acoustic backed psychedelic Beatles/ ELO/ lower-voiced Bee Gees territory.
'Trapped in This Modern Age' continues that classic-pop theme but this time with a discernible Lynne & Wood ELO vibe (one that’s not too far removed from '10538 Overture').
If, after more than half-a-century you think you've heard it all from Hawkwind... think again.
Campbell Stewart & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Jim Kirkpatrick – Dead Man Walking
The fact that short opening number 'Promised Land' is a harmonised gospel blues work-song to a hopefully better future tells you Jim Kirkpatrick’s new album Dead Man Walking (the follow-up to the noted guitar-slinger’s excellent 2020 release Ballad of a Prodigal Son) is already spreading a wider blues shaded canvas than its well-received predecessor.
Indeed Kirkpatrick (guitarist with celebrated and long-standing British melodic rockers FM), has intentionally pushed himself into deeper blues territory on Dead Man Walking, an album that flirts with, and delivers on, the aforementioned southern gospel, southern-tinged rock, soul-blues, a dash of Americana/ country, a couple of out an out rockers and an interesting and satisfying cover.
Nor does it hurt that the other nine songs feature some purposeful drum work from Status Quo’s Leon Cave and keys from Jim Kirkpatrick’s FM bandmate Jem Davis (Cave and Davis, with Jim Kirkpatrick on vocals, guitars, percussion (and bass on four tracks), make up the core trio of the album).
'Promised Land' gives way to the title track.
A co-write with Bernie Marsden and featuring Chris Cliff on bass, 'Dead Man Walking' flexes its musical muscles between southern blues stomp verses and bigger, swaggering choruses (and a feisty solo from Jim Kirkpatrick; indeed his guitar play across the entire album is a highlight).
The weight of following number 'Razors Edge' is carried in its mid-tempo groove, melodic middle eight and a purposeful vocal from Jim Kirkpatrick (there’s a number of noticeably strong vocal performances on the album) while 'Life On The Run' is a clever mix of blues-rock, a nifty riff and an AOR chorus that FM would be proud of.
Soulful rock ballad 'The Journey Home' (one of three songs featuring Ollie Collins on bass) adds lyrically sincere and lighter love song contrast before the harmonica blowin' 'Union Train' starts down the tracks.
Featuring Status Quo’s John "Rhino" Edwards on bass, Alex Mcilquham on backing vocals and Clare "Fluff" Smith on fiddle, the southern rocking 'Union Train' tells the true story of Union soldiers who seized a locomotive in Georgia during the American Civil War (it’s also one of Kirkpatrick’s best song compositions to date).
Thick riffed, beefy slow blues then comes calling by way of 'Road Of Bones' (featuring another clever melodic change-up on the middle eight and one of Jim Kirkpatrick’s best guitar solo of the album).
'Heaven Above,' with a horn arrangement from Scott Ralph, then does its best impression, musically of a slower, blues-driven 'Walk This Way' (and a big chorus).
'Hold On,' with Sarah Miller adding some female backing vocal pizzazz (as she did on 'Heaven Above'), offers up some Stonesy-ish, mid-tempo blues 'n' roll before the album concludes with a cover of Rory Gallagher gem 'I Fall Apart.'
While the vocal, in terms of delivery and phrasing, remains faithful to the original (a nice nod of vocal and lyrical reverence), Jim Kirkpatrick’s version is shorter and passes on Rory's superlative mid-song solo expressions (well, who would be foolish enough… etc); it does however conclude with a sweeping orchestral score from Charlie Olins and a tasteful, ever-building outro solo from Kirkpatrick.
Produced by Jim Kirkpatrick and mixed & mastered by Jim Griffiths at Principal Audio, Dead Man Walking doesn’t just sound the part, it carries some of Jim Kirkpatrick’s best work to date.
("I think some of my strongest tracks ever are on this album" said Kirkpatrick on pre-release press; you thought right, Jim).
Dead Man Walking. Blues Man Talking (the talk).
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Indeed Kirkpatrick (guitarist with celebrated and long-standing British melodic rockers FM), has intentionally pushed himself into deeper blues territory on Dead Man Walking, an album that flirts with, and delivers on, the aforementioned southern gospel, southern-tinged rock, soul-blues, a dash of Americana/ country, a couple of out an out rockers and an interesting and satisfying cover.
Nor does it hurt that the other nine songs feature some purposeful drum work from Status Quo’s Leon Cave and keys from Jim Kirkpatrick’s FM bandmate Jem Davis (Cave and Davis, with Jim Kirkpatrick on vocals, guitars, percussion (and bass on four tracks), make up the core trio of the album).
'Promised Land' gives way to the title track.
A co-write with Bernie Marsden and featuring Chris Cliff on bass, 'Dead Man Walking' flexes its musical muscles between southern blues stomp verses and bigger, swaggering choruses (and a feisty solo from Jim Kirkpatrick; indeed his guitar play across the entire album is a highlight).
The weight of following number 'Razors Edge' is carried in its mid-tempo groove, melodic middle eight and a purposeful vocal from Jim Kirkpatrick (there’s a number of noticeably strong vocal performances on the album) while 'Life On The Run' is a clever mix of blues-rock, a nifty riff and an AOR chorus that FM would be proud of.
Soulful rock ballad 'The Journey Home' (one of three songs featuring Ollie Collins on bass) adds lyrically sincere and lighter love song contrast before the harmonica blowin' 'Union Train' starts down the tracks.
Featuring Status Quo’s John "Rhino" Edwards on bass, Alex Mcilquham on backing vocals and Clare "Fluff" Smith on fiddle, the southern rocking 'Union Train' tells the true story of Union soldiers who seized a locomotive in Georgia during the American Civil War (it’s also one of Kirkpatrick’s best song compositions to date).
Thick riffed, beefy slow blues then comes calling by way of 'Road Of Bones' (featuring another clever melodic change-up on the middle eight and one of Jim Kirkpatrick’s best guitar solo of the album).
'Heaven Above,' with a horn arrangement from Scott Ralph, then does its best impression, musically of a slower, blues-driven 'Walk This Way' (and a big chorus).
'Hold On,' with Sarah Miller adding some female backing vocal pizzazz (as she did on 'Heaven Above'), offers up some Stonesy-ish, mid-tempo blues 'n' roll before the album concludes with a cover of Rory Gallagher gem 'I Fall Apart.'
While the vocal, in terms of delivery and phrasing, remains faithful to the original (a nice nod of vocal and lyrical reverence), Jim Kirkpatrick’s version is shorter and passes on Rory's superlative mid-song solo expressions (well, who would be foolish enough… etc); it does however conclude with a sweeping orchestral score from Charlie Olins and a tasteful, ever-building outro solo from Kirkpatrick.
Produced by Jim Kirkpatrick and mixed & mastered by Jim Griffiths at Principal Audio, Dead Man Walking doesn’t just sound the part, it carries some of Jim Kirkpatrick’s best work to date.
("I think some of my strongest tracks ever are on this album" said Kirkpatrick on pre-release press; you thought right, Jim).
Dead Man Walking. Blues Man Talking (the talk).
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Jared James Nichols – Jared James Nichols
Larger than life singer-guitarist and Gibson neck-wringer Jared James Nichols (a towering 6’ 5” presence with the unfettered rawk attitude of Ted Nugent, back when Gonzo Ted was worth listening to – in both senses) has eponymously titled his latest, and third, full-length studio album.
And with good reason.
While 2015 debut studio album Old Glory & The Wild Revival was suitably impacting and 2018’s Black Magic reinforced his blues-raucous credentials, Jared James Nichols is exactly what JJN is all about, particularly in the live environment.
And that’s exactly where the album (produced, engineered & mixed by Eddie Spear and recorded live in the studio) takes its cue from, as JJN stated in pre-release press:
"I made a record to serve as the menu for the live show; there’s an element of excitement and danger.
The album is a day in the life with the ups and downs, but it musically rings true to who I am as an artist.
I’m not trying to be anybody but myself and play the music I love for today. I’m giving you loud ass guitars and no fucks given rock ‘n’ roll."
That in itself would do nicely as the review (thanks, Jared) but there are both blues-grungy pros and overly similar cons to this 12 track, forty-three minute offering from the engaging, Nashville based Gibson guitar ambassador.
'My Delusion' blues boogies, rocks and bone-rattlingly rolls along its short 147 seconds accompanied by JJN’s raucous vocal (like his guitar play, always delivered with gusto); following number, the similarly paced 'Easy Come, Easy Go,' carries even more weight courtesy of the thick guitar muscle applied.
'Down the Drain,' one of two pre-album singles, provides contrast with its more psychedelic verses, but it still retains that trademark JJN rawk chorus (here with a touch of grunge) and a wild ‘n’ wicked guitar solo.
Those unfettered six-string licks of JJN then introduce the slower (and other previous single) 'Hard Wired,' which evolved from a jam session with Tyler Bryant and Graham Whitford.
With its pseudo metal-blues style, 'Hard Wired' sits as one of the more interesting numbers on the album.
However as the album progresses from that opening quartet you realise, and hear, the problem – or, more accurately, that its greatest strength (that aforementioned unfettered-ness and rawk gusto) is also its weakness – songs such as the slightly punky 'Bad Roots,' staccato rock-blues of 'Good Time Girl,' the metal-riffed boogie of 'Hallelujah' and the grunge-rock-blues of 'Saint Or Fool' all, quite derivatively, come and go.
By change-up contrast however the early 70s vibe of 'Skin ‘n Bone,' heavier rhythmic shade applied to 'Long Way to Go,' the tempo-shifting psychedelic blues of 'Shadow Dancer' and lyrically poignant and moody 'Out Of Time' (a tribute to JJN’s late father) all make much more of an impact.
Would a 6 Track EP (or two such EPs, issued a few months apart) have made more of an impact? Perhaps.
But, whatever your take, this is definitively Jared James Nichols, musically raw and honest and never manufactured.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
And with good reason.
While 2015 debut studio album Old Glory & The Wild Revival was suitably impacting and 2018’s Black Magic reinforced his blues-raucous credentials, Jared James Nichols is exactly what JJN is all about, particularly in the live environment.
And that’s exactly where the album (produced, engineered & mixed by Eddie Spear and recorded live in the studio) takes its cue from, as JJN stated in pre-release press:
"I made a record to serve as the menu for the live show; there’s an element of excitement and danger.
The album is a day in the life with the ups and downs, but it musically rings true to who I am as an artist.
I’m not trying to be anybody but myself and play the music I love for today. I’m giving you loud ass guitars and no fucks given rock ‘n’ roll."
That in itself would do nicely as the review (thanks, Jared) but there are both blues-grungy pros and overly similar cons to this 12 track, forty-three minute offering from the engaging, Nashville based Gibson guitar ambassador.
'My Delusion' blues boogies, rocks and bone-rattlingly rolls along its short 147 seconds accompanied by JJN’s raucous vocal (like his guitar play, always delivered with gusto); following number, the similarly paced 'Easy Come, Easy Go,' carries even more weight courtesy of the thick guitar muscle applied.
'Down the Drain,' one of two pre-album singles, provides contrast with its more psychedelic verses, but it still retains that trademark JJN rawk chorus (here with a touch of grunge) and a wild ‘n’ wicked guitar solo.
Those unfettered six-string licks of JJN then introduce the slower (and other previous single) 'Hard Wired,' which evolved from a jam session with Tyler Bryant and Graham Whitford.
With its pseudo metal-blues style, 'Hard Wired' sits as one of the more interesting numbers on the album.
However as the album progresses from that opening quartet you realise, and hear, the problem – or, more accurately, that its greatest strength (that aforementioned unfettered-ness and rawk gusto) is also its weakness – songs such as the slightly punky 'Bad Roots,' staccato rock-blues of 'Good Time Girl,' the metal-riffed boogie of 'Hallelujah' and the grunge-rock-blues of 'Saint Or Fool' all, quite derivatively, come and go.
By change-up contrast however the early 70s vibe of 'Skin ‘n Bone,' heavier rhythmic shade applied to 'Long Way to Go,' the tempo-shifting psychedelic blues of 'Shadow Dancer' and lyrically poignant and moody 'Out Of Time' (a tribute to JJN’s late father) all make much more of an impact.
Would a 6 Track EP (or two such EPs, issued a few months apart) have made more of an impact? Perhaps.
But, whatever your take, this is definitively Jared James Nichols, musically raw and honest and never manufactured.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Adam Norsworthy – Talking Pictures
It’s one thing to be musically prolific – as is the writing, recording & releasing case with singer/ songwriter/ guitarist/ multi-instrumentalist Adam Norsworthy, but it’s quite another to also be consistently good, especially if you have more than one string to your bow, or guitar.
Fortunately Adam Norsworthy (who balances a solo career alongside fronting multi-hued blues rock band The Mustangs and as guitarist of feel-good rhythm and blues quartet The Milk Men) also ticks that consistently good box.
Having released the band orientated (Oli Brown, Bennett Holland, Rich Young & Wayne Proctor, no less) solo album Infinite Hotel (a mix of melodic rock and roll, bluesy atmospheres and shades of country/ Americana) and best to date Milk Men album Spin the Bottle last year, the singer-songwriter side of Adam Norsworthy is front and centre less than a year later on Talking Pictures.
An intentionally low-fi affair that offers genuinely moving melancholy (Adam Norsworthy’s parents sadly passed within four months of each other during the COVD crisis), uplifting warmth and lyrically adept storytelling, Talking Pictures is a lovely album that is also well-named; just about every song conjures images to accompany the nuanced lyricism (topics covered include ageing, loss, obsession, parenthood, invention and progress).
Talking Pictures runs the singer-songwriter gamut from delicate and forlorn opener 'Quiet Town' ("knowing I can’t see you is my architect of pain… the isolation is wearing me down") and lyrical cheek of the bluesy 'Eating Off The Floor' to the dreamy, acoustic pop charm of 'Radio Nights' (an ode to the days of Pirate Radio and Radio Caroline and a (perhaps first) love long since passed) and album closer 'No Matter What You Do,' a lovingly delivered acoustic & vocal nod to always-watching-over-you parenthood.
Strong as that quartet are they act as the supporting cast to others such as the light and airy 'Talking To Myself' (intimate melancholy tempered by infectious melody), the echoing ring of slightly reverbed guitars on the atmospheric 'Comfort & Blame' and the folksier pop of 'A Man Can Fly,' featuring Ellie Fagg on violin (as do a few others, including the wistful 'A New York Song').
Other highlights include two beautifully written storytelling numbers – the wonderfully conceived acoustic-folk tale 'Cleopatra’s Lies' ("Yesterday Caesar ruled an empire, today he can’t control his beating heart") and the American folk-waltz styled 'Harpersferry,' which lyrically depicts the close bonded relationship between father and son through the elder’s telling of American Civil War history.
DIY in low-fi style it may be (all instruments were played by Adam Norsworthy other than the aforementioned Ellie Fagg and Tim Weller (The Divine Comedy) on drums) but that’s unquestionably part of Talking Pictures strength, bolstered by an intimate sounding production from Norsworthy and another excellent House Of Tone mixing & mastering job from Wayne Proctor (who also chips in with bass on three songs).
Get a ticket, grab a seat and turn the lights down for Talking Pictures; you’ll get your money’s worth.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase the CD at: https://www.adamnorsworthy.co.uk/
Digital purchase/ Stream at: https://adamnorsworthy.hearnow.com/talking-pictures
Fortunately Adam Norsworthy (who balances a solo career alongside fronting multi-hued blues rock band The Mustangs and as guitarist of feel-good rhythm and blues quartet The Milk Men) also ticks that consistently good box.
Having released the band orientated (Oli Brown, Bennett Holland, Rich Young & Wayne Proctor, no less) solo album Infinite Hotel (a mix of melodic rock and roll, bluesy atmospheres and shades of country/ Americana) and best to date Milk Men album Spin the Bottle last year, the singer-songwriter side of Adam Norsworthy is front and centre less than a year later on Talking Pictures.
An intentionally low-fi affair that offers genuinely moving melancholy (Adam Norsworthy’s parents sadly passed within four months of each other during the COVD crisis), uplifting warmth and lyrically adept storytelling, Talking Pictures is a lovely album that is also well-named; just about every song conjures images to accompany the nuanced lyricism (topics covered include ageing, loss, obsession, parenthood, invention and progress).
Talking Pictures runs the singer-songwriter gamut from delicate and forlorn opener 'Quiet Town' ("knowing I can’t see you is my architect of pain… the isolation is wearing me down") and lyrical cheek of the bluesy 'Eating Off The Floor' to the dreamy, acoustic pop charm of 'Radio Nights' (an ode to the days of Pirate Radio and Radio Caroline and a (perhaps first) love long since passed) and album closer 'No Matter What You Do,' a lovingly delivered acoustic & vocal nod to always-watching-over-you parenthood.
Strong as that quartet are they act as the supporting cast to others such as the light and airy 'Talking To Myself' (intimate melancholy tempered by infectious melody), the echoing ring of slightly reverbed guitars on the atmospheric 'Comfort & Blame' and the folksier pop of 'A Man Can Fly,' featuring Ellie Fagg on violin (as do a few others, including the wistful 'A New York Song').
Other highlights include two beautifully written storytelling numbers – the wonderfully conceived acoustic-folk tale 'Cleopatra’s Lies' ("Yesterday Caesar ruled an empire, today he can’t control his beating heart") and the American folk-waltz styled 'Harpersferry,' which lyrically depicts the close bonded relationship between father and son through the elder’s telling of American Civil War history.
DIY in low-fi style it may be (all instruments were played by Adam Norsworthy other than the aforementioned Ellie Fagg and Tim Weller (The Divine Comedy) on drums) but that’s unquestionably part of Talking Pictures strength, bolstered by an intimate sounding production from Norsworthy and another excellent House Of Tone mixing & mastering job from Wayne Proctor (who also chips in with bass on three songs).
Get a ticket, grab a seat and turn the lights down for Talking Pictures; you’ll get your money’s worth.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase the CD at: https://www.adamnorsworthy.co.uk/
Digital purchase/ Stream at: https://adamnorsworthy.hearnow.com/talking-pictures
Ronnie Romero – Raised On Heavy Radio
As can be gleaned from the title of the new album from melodic/heavy rock & metal vocalist Ronnie Romero (Lords of Black, The Ferrymen, Sunstorm, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group), Raised On Heavy Radio is the heavier companion piece to Romero’s 2022 covers album Raised On Radio.
Where last year’s release focused on rock/ melodic rock/ AOR orientated numbers from the likes of Foreigner, Kansas and Survivor, Raised on Heavy Radio is a homage to classic metal songs and metal bands as delivered by Romero, his studio band of Jose Rubio (guitars), Javi Garcia (bass) Andy C (drums), Alessandro Del Vecchio (keyboards, production) and a clutch of guest guitarists.
Ronnie Romero’s love of all things Ritchie Blackmore is highlighted by opening number 'The Battle Rages On' (a faithful rendition of Purple’s 1993 album title track, with Messrs Rubio & Del Vecchio making a good fist of the respective Blackmore & Lord parts) and the fast-paced, power down Rainbow classic 'Light in the Dark.'
The latter allows Romero to give it the full (if grittier voiced) Dio while Andy C keeps the powerful beat on point (a nod here too for Del Vecchio and Rubio’s respective and unfettered solos).
Manowar’s riff-driven, shouty chorus number 'Metal Daze' (with twiddly-shred solo by guest six-stringer Alfredo Alonso) allows Ronnie Romero to lift from his trademark gritty tenor tones to some screaming highs a la Eric Adams, before the chugging riff and incessant beat of Judas Priest’s 'Turbo Lover' (featuring a guitar solo from Nozomu Wakai) gets an airing.
Given the song’s one dimensionality (both musically and vocally) there’s a good argument that a different Priest pick would have had more impact, compounded by the fact an 'Alternate Solo' version of the song appears as a Digital album bonus track.
'Hallowed Be Thy Name' is another strange choice given it’s hard to beat the sheer power and prog-metal impact of the Maiden original (and the Bruce Dickinson vocal) but as a faithful homage, sans the gravitas, it works well enough.
'Fast as a Shark' is up to Accept-able metal speed, which is contrasted by following number 'No More Tears.'
Ozzy Osbourne’s atmospheric and keyboard embellished AOR metal classic (here featuring some great six-string work from Gus G.) is the slowest and moodiest number on the album – as such, when taken in tandem with Black Sabbath’s brooding-metal number 'The Shining' (featuring guitarist Chris Caffery and a great vocal from Ronnie Romero) they work well as mid-album changes of pace.
Masterplan’s 'Kind Hearted Light' (featuring Masterplan founder Roland Grapow) is the album’s rapid-fire European power metal moment; it’s followed by the more melodically rocking metal of Yngwie Malmsteen’s 'You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget.'
Metallica’s ever-shifting riffage-fest classic 'Four Horsemen,' with Ronnie Romero, Jose Rubio, Javi Garcia and Andy C giving it their vocal and instrumentation all, is a fairly impressive and purposeful way to close out the album.
Ronnie Romero is no stranger to putting voice to classic rock and metal covers, as showcased on his two Raised On… albums; both collections certainly have their rock and metal moments, but the singing-someone-else’s-songs irony Is they only increase the impatience for the anticipated all-new material solo album from one of the more noteworthy (in both senses) voices in 21st century rock.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Where last year’s release focused on rock/ melodic rock/ AOR orientated numbers from the likes of Foreigner, Kansas and Survivor, Raised on Heavy Radio is a homage to classic metal songs and metal bands as delivered by Romero, his studio band of Jose Rubio (guitars), Javi Garcia (bass) Andy C (drums), Alessandro Del Vecchio (keyboards, production) and a clutch of guest guitarists.
Ronnie Romero’s love of all things Ritchie Blackmore is highlighted by opening number 'The Battle Rages On' (a faithful rendition of Purple’s 1993 album title track, with Messrs Rubio & Del Vecchio making a good fist of the respective Blackmore & Lord parts) and the fast-paced, power down Rainbow classic 'Light in the Dark.'
The latter allows Romero to give it the full (if grittier voiced) Dio while Andy C keeps the powerful beat on point (a nod here too for Del Vecchio and Rubio’s respective and unfettered solos).
Manowar’s riff-driven, shouty chorus number 'Metal Daze' (with twiddly-shred solo by guest six-stringer Alfredo Alonso) allows Ronnie Romero to lift from his trademark gritty tenor tones to some screaming highs a la Eric Adams, before the chugging riff and incessant beat of Judas Priest’s 'Turbo Lover' (featuring a guitar solo from Nozomu Wakai) gets an airing.
Given the song’s one dimensionality (both musically and vocally) there’s a good argument that a different Priest pick would have had more impact, compounded by the fact an 'Alternate Solo' version of the song appears as a Digital album bonus track.
'Hallowed Be Thy Name' is another strange choice given it’s hard to beat the sheer power and prog-metal impact of the Maiden original (and the Bruce Dickinson vocal) but as a faithful homage, sans the gravitas, it works well enough.
'Fast as a Shark' is up to Accept-able metal speed, which is contrasted by following number 'No More Tears.'
Ozzy Osbourne’s atmospheric and keyboard embellished AOR metal classic (here featuring some great six-string work from Gus G.) is the slowest and moodiest number on the album – as such, when taken in tandem with Black Sabbath’s brooding-metal number 'The Shining' (featuring guitarist Chris Caffery and a great vocal from Ronnie Romero) they work well as mid-album changes of pace.
Masterplan’s 'Kind Hearted Light' (featuring Masterplan founder Roland Grapow) is the album’s rapid-fire European power metal moment; it’s followed by the more melodically rocking metal of Yngwie Malmsteen’s 'You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget.'
Metallica’s ever-shifting riffage-fest classic 'Four Horsemen,' with Ronnie Romero, Jose Rubio, Javi Garcia and Andy C giving it their vocal and instrumentation all, is a fairly impressive and purposeful way to close out the album.
Ronnie Romero is no stranger to putting voice to classic rock and metal covers, as showcased on his two Raised On… albums; both collections certainly have their rock and metal moments, but the singing-someone-else’s-songs irony Is they only increase the impatience for the anticipated all-new material solo album from one of the more noteworthy (in both senses) voices in 21st century rock.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Connor Selby - Connor Selby (Deluxe Edition)
Twenty-four-year old British blues singer-guitarist-songwriter Connor Selby first caught attention with 2018 debut album Made Up My Mind and some noteworthy live performances (including a prestigious Wembley Stadium support slot to The Who in 2019).
Made Up My Mind also showcased a fairly mature singer for his age (mid-range vocality with bari-tenor warmth) and an equally mature player, one influenced by US blues and soul blues, from the more traitional sounding ('You Hurt Me') to 60s blues-beat ('See it Through') and coastal/ driving blues (the title track).
There was even room for a little light muscle flexing (the 70s affected and Hammond backed 'Help Me').
2021’s follow-up could only have been named Connor Selby because it’s very much who young Mr Selby musically is – or more accurately an impressive pointer to the blues player he wants to be and, with a fair blues wind, will become; smooth-blues and classy licks along with more focussed playing and more confident vocals.
That the album now has a bigger platform from which to be broadcast (courtesy of a Deluxe Edition release via Provogue) will do Connor Selby no harm whatsoever, coming as it does with four new tracks and, in a perfectly planned blues offensive, a release date that coincided with Selby kicking off his special guest role on Beth Hart’s spring UK & Ireland tour.
Those unfamiliar with the album will enjoy what is a predominately laid back, light and breezy US soul-blues sound, typified by slow-paced opener 'I Can’t Let You Go,' led by a semi-conversational vocal style (harking back to the old-school US bluesmen) and accompanied by horns, keys and not one but two joyously expressive solos.
The funkier, female vocals backed 'Falling In Love Again' and the slow barroom blues of 'If You’re Gonna Leave Me' (with cool piano and guitar solo) add variation to Selby’s old school US blues theme – indeed if not for his more neutral accent/ vocality you’d be forgiven for thinking he was from the Chicago blues scene.
That said the riffier 'Emily,' with a short but sharply impressive solo, sounds like its origins should be placed slightly further south.
Blues ballad 'Man I Ought to Be' has an ever so subtle sound of Nashville about it while 'Hear My Prayer' is Nashville, in all its acoustic led, female vocals backed, country-pop glory.
The soul-funk fun of 'Show Me' ups the tempo before the pace is dropped again for, first, the piano-led gospel blues of 'Anyhow,' followed by the breezy and mellow charm of 'Waitin’ On the Day.'
The contemplative 'Starting Again,' the longest song on the album at over seven-and-a-half-minutes, is a simply arranged (atop piano and Hammond) but highly effective ballad that really only moves into second gear for the soulful and satisfying cry of Connor Selby’s short finale solo.
Those already familiar with the album will find it’s well worth the revisit, given the quality of the bonus tracks.
'I Shouldn’t Care' returns to the mid-tempo, Hammond 'n' horns soul-blues that Connor Selby does so well while the slower 'Love Letter to the Blues' is about as autobiographical as Selby is ever likely to get:
"I know what I was put on this earth to do, that’s why I am gonna keep on singing the blues."
The funky R&B of the Percy Mayfield penned 'My Baby Don’t Dig Me' (here with great duck-honking sax) pays pretty faithful homage to the 1964 Ray Charles original before the Deluxe Edition closes out on the lazy, soul-blues appeal of 'The Deep End' (complete with groovy Hammond solo).
Connor Selby, voted Young Artist of the Year at the last three UK Blues Awards (and nominated in four categories for the 2023 edition) is, like young Toby Lee (and Laurence Jones before them), an up and coming British blues scene talent that has already untapped some of his potential.
That he has such potential is unarguable; for proof, just check out Connor Selby Deluxe Edition.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Made Up My Mind also showcased a fairly mature singer for his age (mid-range vocality with bari-tenor warmth) and an equally mature player, one influenced by US blues and soul blues, from the more traitional sounding ('You Hurt Me') to 60s blues-beat ('See it Through') and coastal/ driving blues (the title track).
There was even room for a little light muscle flexing (the 70s affected and Hammond backed 'Help Me').
2021’s follow-up could only have been named Connor Selby because it’s very much who young Mr Selby musically is – or more accurately an impressive pointer to the blues player he wants to be and, with a fair blues wind, will become; smooth-blues and classy licks along with more focussed playing and more confident vocals.
That the album now has a bigger platform from which to be broadcast (courtesy of a Deluxe Edition release via Provogue) will do Connor Selby no harm whatsoever, coming as it does with four new tracks and, in a perfectly planned blues offensive, a release date that coincided with Selby kicking off his special guest role on Beth Hart’s spring UK & Ireland tour.
Those unfamiliar with the album will enjoy what is a predominately laid back, light and breezy US soul-blues sound, typified by slow-paced opener 'I Can’t Let You Go,' led by a semi-conversational vocal style (harking back to the old-school US bluesmen) and accompanied by horns, keys and not one but two joyously expressive solos.
The funkier, female vocals backed 'Falling In Love Again' and the slow barroom blues of 'If You’re Gonna Leave Me' (with cool piano and guitar solo) add variation to Selby’s old school US blues theme – indeed if not for his more neutral accent/ vocality you’d be forgiven for thinking he was from the Chicago blues scene.
That said the riffier 'Emily,' with a short but sharply impressive solo, sounds like its origins should be placed slightly further south.
Blues ballad 'Man I Ought to Be' has an ever so subtle sound of Nashville about it while 'Hear My Prayer' is Nashville, in all its acoustic led, female vocals backed, country-pop glory.
The soul-funk fun of 'Show Me' ups the tempo before the pace is dropped again for, first, the piano-led gospel blues of 'Anyhow,' followed by the breezy and mellow charm of 'Waitin’ On the Day.'
The contemplative 'Starting Again,' the longest song on the album at over seven-and-a-half-minutes, is a simply arranged (atop piano and Hammond) but highly effective ballad that really only moves into second gear for the soulful and satisfying cry of Connor Selby’s short finale solo.
Those already familiar with the album will find it’s well worth the revisit, given the quality of the bonus tracks.
'I Shouldn’t Care' returns to the mid-tempo, Hammond 'n' horns soul-blues that Connor Selby does so well while the slower 'Love Letter to the Blues' is about as autobiographical as Selby is ever likely to get:
"I know what I was put on this earth to do, that’s why I am gonna keep on singing the blues."
The funky R&B of the Percy Mayfield penned 'My Baby Don’t Dig Me' (here with great duck-honking sax) pays pretty faithful homage to the 1964 Ray Charles original before the Deluxe Edition closes out on the lazy, soul-blues appeal of 'The Deep End' (complete with groovy Hammond solo).
Connor Selby, voted Young Artist of the Year at the last three UK Blues Awards (and nominated in four categories for the 2023 edition) is, like young Toby Lee (and Laurence Jones before them), an up and coming British blues scene talent that has already untapped some of his potential.
That he has such potential is unarguable; for proof, just check out Connor Selby Deluxe Edition.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
JD Simo Trio – Songs From The House Of Grease
The phrase "expect the unexpected" is a perfect fit for Nashville based guitarist-singer-songwriter JD Simo – he never does the same album twice, not so much pushing as breaking his own musical boundaries (you might as well put the phrase 'music genre' in the bin).
Nor does JD Simo ever give the same live performance twice; free-form, semi-improvisational and where-the-mood-takes-him excursions alongside Adam Abrashoff (drums) and Todd Bolden (bass) are all part of the live music menu.
Such explorative traits are very much in evidence on Songs From The House Of Grease, a five song, 40 minute traverse through the musical mind of JD Simo, who was very much on his game, and in the musical moment, during these recordings ("This album is a live snapshot of me and the fellas playing some favourite tracks… it's honestly my best playing ever captured").
'Mortgage On My Soul,' which opens with piercing but polite note-bending cries from JD Simo’s guitar, takes a captivating rhythmical route across its seven minutes with Simo's drawl-styled vocal and sharp, guitar twangin' blues lines flitting across the groove laid down by Adam Abrashoff and Todd Bolden.
(The six-string punctuation atop Abrashoff’s Afro Beat is worth the admission fee on its own).
If there’s a touch of hypnotically vibe’d psychedelia threaded through the fabric of JD Simo’s interpretation of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s hill country number then there’s highly contrasting jazz-blues to be heard on 'Afro Blue.'
Such a styling is not too surprising given it’s an interpretational nod to John Coltrane’s version of Mongo Santamaria’s jazz standard; what is surprising however is how impressive the song remains across its eight minutes, JD Simo throwing innovative (and perhaps even improvised) guitar lines across another great rhythm, and performance, from Messrs Abrashoff & Bolden.
A new original, the instrumental 'Missy’s Strut,' sits centre of the album (where it does indeed strut its cheeky, funky and melodically infused stuff) before Blind Alfred Reed's old American folk staple 'How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live' gets the JD Simo Trio treatment.
Here the number eschews its original folk arrangement for a slower, six-minute blues-country interpretation, thus providing a great present-day-ills platform for its Great Depression lyric.
The album closes out on a thirteen minute take of JD Simo’s 'Higher Plane,' from 2020's self-titled solo album.
The heavy distortion meets psychedelic blues number starts as a high octane delivery of the original before expanding to an unfettered free-jazz second half, where all three players roam in a trippier 'Higher Plane' with musical and exploratory abandon.
As 'Higher Plane' and Songs From The House Of Grease emphatically reinforce, JD Simo is not one for knocking out hollow, heard-it-all before Delta stomp blues for lowest common denominator gain (that he is also highly respected among his peers was underlined when music supervisor David Cobb chose him to record all the guitar parts for the recent, critically acclaimed biopic Elvis).
And for that, JD, thank you very much.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Nor does JD Simo ever give the same live performance twice; free-form, semi-improvisational and where-the-mood-takes-him excursions alongside Adam Abrashoff (drums) and Todd Bolden (bass) are all part of the live music menu.
Such explorative traits are very much in evidence on Songs From The House Of Grease, a five song, 40 minute traverse through the musical mind of JD Simo, who was very much on his game, and in the musical moment, during these recordings ("This album is a live snapshot of me and the fellas playing some favourite tracks… it's honestly my best playing ever captured").
'Mortgage On My Soul,' which opens with piercing but polite note-bending cries from JD Simo’s guitar, takes a captivating rhythmical route across its seven minutes with Simo's drawl-styled vocal and sharp, guitar twangin' blues lines flitting across the groove laid down by Adam Abrashoff and Todd Bolden.
(The six-string punctuation atop Abrashoff’s Afro Beat is worth the admission fee on its own).
If there’s a touch of hypnotically vibe’d psychedelia threaded through the fabric of JD Simo’s interpretation of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s hill country number then there’s highly contrasting jazz-blues to be heard on 'Afro Blue.'
Such a styling is not too surprising given it’s an interpretational nod to John Coltrane’s version of Mongo Santamaria’s jazz standard; what is surprising however is how impressive the song remains across its eight minutes, JD Simo throwing innovative (and perhaps even improvised) guitar lines across another great rhythm, and performance, from Messrs Abrashoff & Bolden.
A new original, the instrumental 'Missy’s Strut,' sits centre of the album (where it does indeed strut its cheeky, funky and melodically infused stuff) before Blind Alfred Reed's old American folk staple 'How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live' gets the JD Simo Trio treatment.
Here the number eschews its original folk arrangement for a slower, six-minute blues-country interpretation, thus providing a great present-day-ills platform for its Great Depression lyric.
The album closes out on a thirteen minute take of JD Simo’s 'Higher Plane,' from 2020's self-titled solo album.
The heavy distortion meets psychedelic blues number starts as a high octane delivery of the original before expanding to an unfettered free-jazz second half, where all three players roam in a trippier 'Higher Plane' with musical and exploratory abandon.
As 'Higher Plane' and Songs From The House Of Grease emphatically reinforce, JD Simo is not one for knocking out hollow, heard-it-all before Delta stomp blues for lowest common denominator gain (that he is also highly respected among his peers was underlined when music supervisor David Cobb chose him to record all the guitar parts for the recent, critically acclaimed biopic Elvis).
And for that, JD, thank you very much.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
/Sin’Dogs/ - Renascence EP
The re-emergence of Scottish band /Sin’Dogs/ via the fittingly titled Renascence EP is one of the more unforeseen reappearances in rock, given the band were originally fronted (as was the band name) by renowned Scottish six-stringer Zal Cleminson (SAHB; Nazareth).
However, following an attention grabbing debut EP and a Vol.1 album that was akin to heavyweight soundtrack meeting industrial metal, Cleminson left the /Sin'Dogs/ toward the end of 2019, effectively splitting the band.
With Zal Cleminson moving on to his Orphans Of The Ash project with guitarist Willie McGonagle (releasing Ellipsis in 2022), remaining members of /Sin’Dogs/ decided, post-pandemic, to regroup with other musicians, all of whom have worked with each other at some point or other.
Filling the shoes of Zal Cleminson, a favoured Scottish rock son, is no easy task, but with a modified musical approach (out with the industrial, in with a broader rock-metal meets suspense sound) and the personnel to deliver, Renascence showcases a revitalised band that are on the right track – well, four tracks, to be precise.
Joining original /Sin’Dogs/ members keyboardist David Cowan & bassist Nelson McFarlane (both part of The Meissner Effect and one of the finest tribute bands on the circuit The Sensational Alex Harvey Experience), are versatile guitarist Andy McLaughlan (also part of The Meissner Effect and Burnt Out Wreck live guitarist), sought-after drummer Todd "Loud" MacLeod (Jimi Anderson Group, The Hardline, Swamp Born Assassins, Glasgow, among others) and highly experienced vocalist Peter Scallan (Moritz, Samson, Chasar, Chris Glen, to name but four).
Renascence opens with the atmospheric and soundtrack styled 'Dark Side of Your Soul.'
Built on a shadowy and scene-setting piano & vocal tandem (which would sit comfortably in a suspense movie or a stage musical), the song slowly builds to power ballad finale featuring a great Andy McLaughlan solo that displays a highly melodic sensibility and, as importantly, fits the song perfectly.
The pounding rock-metal of 'Day Of Reckoning' is akin to Vol 1 /Sin’Dogs/ but with a contemporary sheen.
It also benefits from a short but effective synth solo, a seriously driving rhythm from Messrs McFarlane & MacLeod and a strong vocal performance from Peter Scallan.
The chugging, thick sounding riffage of 'Knock 'Em Dead' produces the heaviest song of the quartet.
It's also the most predictable (albeit with some nice little background treatments that add texture), but you certainly can’t fault the musicianship or intensity.
The /Sin/ister side of /Sin’Dogs/ comes calling with 'The Strange Door,' which sounds like a 21st century version of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band doing heavyweight rock-metal (an unsettling narrative vocal sections add to the atmosphere and reinforces the Harvey influence).
The song’s finale returns to what one suspects will be a major theme of the revamped band – a piano backed, dark soundtrack/ suspense motif (David Cowan traits, as heard to fine effect on his Out Of The Dark solo album series).
renascence /rɪˈnasns, rɪˈneɪsns/ noun (formal); meaning: "the revival of something that has been dormant."
And reborn as something much stronger.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The Renascence EP is out now and available to stream on all usual platforms.
A limited run of CD’s will also be available at upcoming /Sin’Dogs/ shows.
The EP precedes Vol 2 -The Next Testament, scheduled for an official release later in 2023.
However, following an attention grabbing debut EP and a Vol.1 album that was akin to heavyweight soundtrack meeting industrial metal, Cleminson left the /Sin'Dogs/ toward the end of 2019, effectively splitting the band.
With Zal Cleminson moving on to his Orphans Of The Ash project with guitarist Willie McGonagle (releasing Ellipsis in 2022), remaining members of /Sin’Dogs/ decided, post-pandemic, to regroup with other musicians, all of whom have worked with each other at some point or other.
Filling the shoes of Zal Cleminson, a favoured Scottish rock son, is no easy task, but with a modified musical approach (out with the industrial, in with a broader rock-metal meets suspense sound) and the personnel to deliver, Renascence showcases a revitalised band that are on the right track – well, four tracks, to be precise.
Joining original /Sin’Dogs/ members keyboardist David Cowan & bassist Nelson McFarlane (both part of The Meissner Effect and one of the finest tribute bands on the circuit The Sensational Alex Harvey Experience), are versatile guitarist Andy McLaughlan (also part of The Meissner Effect and Burnt Out Wreck live guitarist), sought-after drummer Todd "Loud" MacLeod (Jimi Anderson Group, The Hardline, Swamp Born Assassins, Glasgow, among others) and highly experienced vocalist Peter Scallan (Moritz, Samson, Chasar, Chris Glen, to name but four).
Renascence opens with the atmospheric and soundtrack styled 'Dark Side of Your Soul.'
Built on a shadowy and scene-setting piano & vocal tandem (which would sit comfortably in a suspense movie or a stage musical), the song slowly builds to power ballad finale featuring a great Andy McLaughlan solo that displays a highly melodic sensibility and, as importantly, fits the song perfectly.
The pounding rock-metal of 'Day Of Reckoning' is akin to Vol 1 /Sin’Dogs/ but with a contemporary sheen.
It also benefits from a short but effective synth solo, a seriously driving rhythm from Messrs McFarlane & MacLeod and a strong vocal performance from Peter Scallan.
The chugging, thick sounding riffage of 'Knock 'Em Dead' produces the heaviest song of the quartet.
It's also the most predictable (albeit with some nice little background treatments that add texture), but you certainly can’t fault the musicianship or intensity.
The /Sin/ister side of /Sin’Dogs/ comes calling with 'The Strange Door,' which sounds like a 21st century version of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band doing heavyweight rock-metal (an unsettling narrative vocal sections add to the atmosphere and reinforces the Harvey influence).
The song’s finale returns to what one suspects will be a major theme of the revamped band – a piano backed, dark soundtrack/ suspense motif (David Cowan traits, as heard to fine effect on his Out Of The Dark solo album series).
renascence /rɪˈnasns, rɪˈneɪsns/ noun (formal); meaning: "the revival of something that has been dormant."
And reborn as something much stronger.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The Renascence EP is out now and available to stream on all usual platforms.
A limited run of CD’s will also be available at upcoming /Sin’Dogs/ shows.
The EP precedes Vol 2 -The Next Testament, scheduled for an official release later in 2023.
Taj Mahal – Savoy
The instantly recognisable voice of Taj Mahal, a living legend of all-things American roots/ trad. blues (and indeed the artist who has recorded more styles of roots music than any other – Caribbean, African, Hawaiian, Gospel, early R&B, to name but five) has managed to take yet another musical direction with latest album Savoy.
In short, a beautiful reminisce and homage to the big band/ jazz swing and early be-bop era of pre-war America with, naturally and delightfully, a bluesy undercurrent.
Here, in the collaborative company of close friend these last fifty-plus years, acclaimed producer John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Blood Sweat & Tears) Taj Mahal has put his voice (and on occasion harmonica) to fourteen early American Songbook standards composed by the luminary likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong.
The latter name has dovetailing significance given that, while Taj Mahal has very much his own, distinct voice, he has been likened in the past to the great Satchmo (primarily because of their wonderful phrasing, which is very much emphasised on Savoy, along with a handful of great "skippity bop" scat interjections).
Opening number 'Stompin' at the Savoy' sets the scene and indeed the semi-conceptual story.
Introduced by Taj Mahal in reflective, narrative mode (talking about his musical parents first meeting at the famous Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in 1938, during the initial run of Ella Fitzgerald & the Chick Webb Band no less) the song soft-swings into action with silky smooth results, bolstered by some neat scattin’ from Taj Mahal and tenor sax solo from Charles McNeal.
What follows is a lovingly created throwback to that Savoy era, courtesy of Taj Mahal in the company of Danny Caron (guitar), Ruth Davies (bass), John Simon (piano), Leon Joyce Jr. (drums), backing vocalists Carla Holbrook, Leesa Humphrey, Charlotte McKinnon (who give it the full Andrews Sisters throughout) and a clutch of seriously good horn players.
Truth be told every song is a winner, but piano led, horns backed blues 'Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You' (which takes its lead from the Nat King Cole Trio version), the jazz-swing treatment of Gershwin classic 'Summertime' (which sounds like it could have been arranged by Gil Evans and Miles Davis), the violin & horns swinging take of 'Sweet Georgia Brown' (with drummer Leon Joyce Jr. in the groove) and the cheeky & charming duet between Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur on 'Baby It’s Cold Outside' (featuring Evan Price on violin) are very much deserving of special note.
There’s also a place for Louis Jordan’s jump-blues classics 'Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby' (with Taj Mahal on full scat) and the punchy 'Caldonia,' featuring trumpet (Mike Rinta) & sax (Charles McNeal) solos and Taj Mahal on harmonica.
(He also blows the harp on jazz-blues instrumental 'Killer Joe,' which features Kristen Strom on tenor sax).
The album couldn’t not close out on the three sheets to the wind blues & horns sway of 'One For My Baby (and One More for the Road),' but the most telling track on Savoy, which features in the early going, is the Duke Ellington composition 'I’m Just a Lucky So and So,' a reflective horns backed number (with bluesy flute solo from Kristen Strom) that lyrically fits Taj Mahal’s approach to life perfectly.
"Just a lucky so and so!" concludes the man also known as Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr.
And so are we, to be able to live music-listening life alongside the long and still-going-strong career of one of the greatest and most influential American roots & blues artists of all-time.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
In short, a beautiful reminisce and homage to the big band/ jazz swing and early be-bop era of pre-war America with, naturally and delightfully, a bluesy undercurrent.
Here, in the collaborative company of close friend these last fifty-plus years, acclaimed producer John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Blood Sweat & Tears) Taj Mahal has put his voice (and on occasion harmonica) to fourteen early American Songbook standards composed by the luminary likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong.
The latter name has dovetailing significance given that, while Taj Mahal has very much his own, distinct voice, he has been likened in the past to the great Satchmo (primarily because of their wonderful phrasing, which is very much emphasised on Savoy, along with a handful of great "skippity bop" scat interjections).
Opening number 'Stompin' at the Savoy' sets the scene and indeed the semi-conceptual story.
Introduced by Taj Mahal in reflective, narrative mode (talking about his musical parents first meeting at the famous Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in 1938, during the initial run of Ella Fitzgerald & the Chick Webb Band no less) the song soft-swings into action with silky smooth results, bolstered by some neat scattin’ from Taj Mahal and tenor sax solo from Charles McNeal.
What follows is a lovingly created throwback to that Savoy era, courtesy of Taj Mahal in the company of Danny Caron (guitar), Ruth Davies (bass), John Simon (piano), Leon Joyce Jr. (drums), backing vocalists Carla Holbrook, Leesa Humphrey, Charlotte McKinnon (who give it the full Andrews Sisters throughout) and a clutch of seriously good horn players.
Truth be told every song is a winner, but piano led, horns backed blues 'Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You' (which takes its lead from the Nat King Cole Trio version), the jazz-swing treatment of Gershwin classic 'Summertime' (which sounds like it could have been arranged by Gil Evans and Miles Davis), the violin & horns swinging take of 'Sweet Georgia Brown' (with drummer Leon Joyce Jr. in the groove) and the cheeky & charming duet between Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur on 'Baby It’s Cold Outside' (featuring Evan Price on violin) are very much deserving of special note.
There’s also a place for Louis Jordan’s jump-blues classics 'Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby' (with Taj Mahal on full scat) and the punchy 'Caldonia,' featuring trumpet (Mike Rinta) & sax (Charles McNeal) solos and Taj Mahal on harmonica.
(He also blows the harp on jazz-blues instrumental 'Killer Joe,' which features Kristen Strom on tenor sax).
The album couldn’t not close out on the three sheets to the wind blues & horns sway of 'One For My Baby (and One More for the Road),' but the most telling track on Savoy, which features in the early going, is the Duke Ellington composition 'I’m Just a Lucky So and So,' a reflective horns backed number (with bluesy flute solo from Kristen Strom) that lyrically fits Taj Mahal’s approach to life perfectly.
"Just a lucky so and so!" concludes the man also known as Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr.
And so are we, to be able to live music-listening life alongside the long and still-going-strong career of one of the greatest and most influential American roots & blues artists of all-time.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The Answer - Sundowners
"Come follow me!" lyrically cried singer Cormac Neeson back in 2006; and we did, when the Rise of Northern Irish rock quartet The Answer (Neeson, Paul Mahon - guitars, Micky Waters - bass, James Wheatley - drums) was championed by Planet Rock, many a major rock outlet and a rapidly growing fan base.
Rise, commonly cited as giving birth to the New Wave Of Classic Rock movement, was a heady and impressive mix of classic & contemporary rock but The Answer, on the back of prestigious Rolling Stones and AC/DC supports, never became the hugely successful/ major headline act many predicted.
Following album Everyday Demons was a mixed review bag (lyrically snarly but too musically angry) and while each subsequent album had something to offer, none of them, other than third release Revival, broke the UK Top 40; the soundscape rock of 2016’s excellent Solas album broadened the band’s sound to fine effect however.
So to 2023 and, after a seven year studio hiatus, the band’s seventh, appropriately enough, studio album, Sundowners.
The band have stated how proud they are of Sundowners, believing it to be their best to date, and you can understand why – fired up to be back in a studio after such a lengthy break, coupled with the big beat, up-tempo nature of most of the eleven tracks, it would be natural to be so energised.
However outside the confines of those studio walls the result, rather ironically, is the band that kick-started the NWOCR playing seven years catch-up to a musically shifting rock land, chasing the tails of those plying their trade successfully in the heavy blues-rock department of the NWOCR (where Sundowners musically sits), the Solas sound seemingly a thing of the past.
That all said, there are some really good songs here – the rhythmically pulsating and bluesy title track makes for a fairly strong opening (but, by its overly long intro and repeating nature, is over-cooked at six-and-a-half minutes) while the big-beat groove of the simple but effective 'Blood Brother' showcases a song geared for live performance, as is the case with the similarly beat-driven, good time rock and roll of 'Livin' On the Line' and 'Cold Heart,' both with infectious hook-choruses.
Additionally, the incorporation of throaty organ on a number of songs, such as the 70s rock meets blues-rock of 'California Rust,' helps push the blues quotient but it's sometimes too low in the mix to be fully effective (similarly the occasional use of harmonica).
Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Bury Tomorrow, Those Damn Crows) was at the controls for production & mixing duties but for whatever reason the sound is not very distinct; the result is a (sometimes treated) sound that dulls the impact of songs already struggling to separate themselves from the rock-blues pack such as 'Oh Cherry,' 'All Together' and 'Get Back On It,' the latter akin to a heavier groove version of Billy Squier’s 'The Stroke' (the song that launched a thousand shout-a-long copies).
'No Salvation' offers nice change of gospel-tinged blues pace and the softer & soulful beginnings of 'Always Alright' makes for a nice album closer but, like the opener, is overly-stretched (a fitting but overly repetitive second half detracts from the delicacy of its acoustic & percussive first half).
The Answer were, and remain, a vibrant and impacting live act – and, as stated above, there are some very good songs on display here, all of which will sound even better when let loose live.
But will Sundowners be a contender for rock album of the year at FabricationsHQ? (which it invariably will elsewhere; it will also undoubtedly be their highest charting album to date given the anticipation and sales numbers needed to dent the Top 20 these days).
Unlikely, is The Answer.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Rise, commonly cited as giving birth to the New Wave Of Classic Rock movement, was a heady and impressive mix of classic & contemporary rock but The Answer, on the back of prestigious Rolling Stones and AC/DC supports, never became the hugely successful/ major headline act many predicted.
Following album Everyday Demons was a mixed review bag (lyrically snarly but too musically angry) and while each subsequent album had something to offer, none of them, other than third release Revival, broke the UK Top 40; the soundscape rock of 2016’s excellent Solas album broadened the band’s sound to fine effect however.
So to 2023 and, after a seven year studio hiatus, the band’s seventh, appropriately enough, studio album, Sundowners.
The band have stated how proud they are of Sundowners, believing it to be their best to date, and you can understand why – fired up to be back in a studio after such a lengthy break, coupled with the big beat, up-tempo nature of most of the eleven tracks, it would be natural to be so energised.
However outside the confines of those studio walls the result, rather ironically, is the band that kick-started the NWOCR playing seven years catch-up to a musically shifting rock land, chasing the tails of those plying their trade successfully in the heavy blues-rock department of the NWOCR (where Sundowners musically sits), the Solas sound seemingly a thing of the past.
That all said, there are some really good songs here – the rhythmically pulsating and bluesy title track makes for a fairly strong opening (but, by its overly long intro and repeating nature, is over-cooked at six-and-a-half minutes) while the big-beat groove of the simple but effective 'Blood Brother' showcases a song geared for live performance, as is the case with the similarly beat-driven, good time rock and roll of 'Livin' On the Line' and 'Cold Heart,' both with infectious hook-choruses.
Additionally, the incorporation of throaty organ on a number of songs, such as the 70s rock meets blues-rock of 'California Rust,' helps push the blues quotient but it's sometimes too low in the mix to be fully effective (similarly the occasional use of harmonica).
Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Bury Tomorrow, Those Damn Crows) was at the controls for production & mixing duties but for whatever reason the sound is not very distinct; the result is a (sometimes treated) sound that dulls the impact of songs already struggling to separate themselves from the rock-blues pack such as 'Oh Cherry,' 'All Together' and 'Get Back On It,' the latter akin to a heavier groove version of Billy Squier’s 'The Stroke' (the song that launched a thousand shout-a-long copies).
'No Salvation' offers nice change of gospel-tinged blues pace and the softer & soulful beginnings of 'Always Alright' makes for a nice album closer but, like the opener, is overly-stretched (a fitting but overly repetitive second half detracts from the delicacy of its acoustic & percussive first half).
The Answer were, and remain, a vibrant and impacting live act – and, as stated above, there are some very good songs on display here, all of which will sound even better when let loose live.
But will Sundowners be a contender for rock album of the year at FabricationsHQ? (which it invariably will elsewhere; it will also undoubtedly be their highest charting album to date given the anticipation and sales numbers needed to dent the Top 20 these days).
Unlikely, is The Answer.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The Daybreakers – Get Through This & Live
The Daybreakers, a London based, rhythm and blues-rock trio consisting of Aidan Connell (vocals, guitars), Conor Cotterill (bass) and Anthony Paine (drums), are already highly regarded in their local gig circuit (Jimmy Page and the late Jeff Beck have both attended shows).
Good news then for those of us situated well outside of old Londinium’s musical borders that we now get to hear what the fuzzy rhythm and rockin’ blues fuss is all about via the band’s debut album Get Through This & Live.
The album kicks off in strong, ear-catching fashion with 'Tear the Walls Down,' which carries an appealing retro production vibe, with double-tracked vocals front and centre and some Hammond backing from Ray Drury.
This is feel-good rhythm and blues-rock, complete with a twin guitar melody hook, a solo from British blues artist Conor Selby and some obvious opportunities for audience participation at a live gig.
Following number 'Bluesbreaker' also carries a retro vibe (think sounds of the 60s/70s but with better production), combined here with grungy, distorted bass and some woozy organ driving it along.
The curiously titled 'Black Beatles on the Radio' then takes us into the realms of psychedelia with Hendrix-esque backwards-guitar effects circa Are You Experienced? (indeed you can practically smell the patchouli oil and jazz fags).
There are also echoes of Cream in this number, further cementing the nostalgia factor for those of a certain vintage.
After that promising triple salvo start we are offered the more predictable shuffle-stomp of the band's ode to fallen icons, 'I Hate Rock’N’Roll,' which ironically has roots in… rock and roll.
The marmite song of the album however is following number 'Call On Me;' it provides interesting low-fi contrast but its similarity to U2 is guaranteed to be an immediate listener splitter.
'Wylde Ones' (a nod to the wild ones we have lost) is even more down tempo yet is a far stronger proposition.
Hints of Americana and blues, plus a heavily-reverbed lap steel part courtesy of Joe Anderton (and baritone guitar from Michael Hanley) all help set the scene, while Aidan Connell contributes an impressive and expressive guitar solo.
'Set Me Free,' with its hint of early glam-rock, is an almost homage-nod to Marc Bolan (Aidan Connell has quite the Bolan-esque vocality here, while the song itself wouldn’t be out of place on an early T-Rex (or even Bowie) album).
Far more modern influences are to the fore on the up-tempo, rhythmic and contemporary 'Crash and Burn,' while following number 'Clean' starts with a funky riff before dropping to a mid-tempo groove with a well-performed vocal part and a simple but effective chorus.
The album closes out with R'n'B number 'Shadows,' which features a harmonica part from Leo Smith.
The song is another up-tempo with sparse arrangement, driven along by the rhythm section to good effect. Another good chorus elevates this number further.
'Shadows' makes for a strong finish to an album that, aside from a couple of misfires, helps illustrate the band, who boast Jewish, Jamaican and Irish backgrounds – cultural diversity with a myriad of musical influences (Thin Lizzy for one, as the album cover homage clearly depicts) – are, as has been described: "reclaiming the blues and rock 'n' roll for the younger generation."
More multi-styled power to them.
Nelson McFarlane
FabricationsHQ
Good news then for those of us situated well outside of old Londinium’s musical borders that we now get to hear what the fuzzy rhythm and rockin’ blues fuss is all about via the band’s debut album Get Through This & Live.
The album kicks off in strong, ear-catching fashion with 'Tear the Walls Down,' which carries an appealing retro production vibe, with double-tracked vocals front and centre and some Hammond backing from Ray Drury.
This is feel-good rhythm and blues-rock, complete with a twin guitar melody hook, a solo from British blues artist Conor Selby and some obvious opportunities for audience participation at a live gig.
Following number 'Bluesbreaker' also carries a retro vibe (think sounds of the 60s/70s but with better production), combined here with grungy, distorted bass and some woozy organ driving it along.
The curiously titled 'Black Beatles on the Radio' then takes us into the realms of psychedelia with Hendrix-esque backwards-guitar effects circa Are You Experienced? (indeed you can practically smell the patchouli oil and jazz fags).
There are also echoes of Cream in this number, further cementing the nostalgia factor for those of a certain vintage.
After that promising triple salvo start we are offered the more predictable shuffle-stomp of the band's ode to fallen icons, 'I Hate Rock’N’Roll,' which ironically has roots in… rock and roll.
The marmite song of the album however is following number 'Call On Me;' it provides interesting low-fi contrast but its similarity to U2 is guaranteed to be an immediate listener splitter.
'Wylde Ones' (a nod to the wild ones we have lost) is even more down tempo yet is a far stronger proposition.
Hints of Americana and blues, plus a heavily-reverbed lap steel part courtesy of Joe Anderton (and baritone guitar from Michael Hanley) all help set the scene, while Aidan Connell contributes an impressive and expressive guitar solo.
'Set Me Free,' with its hint of early glam-rock, is an almost homage-nod to Marc Bolan (Aidan Connell has quite the Bolan-esque vocality here, while the song itself wouldn’t be out of place on an early T-Rex (or even Bowie) album).
Far more modern influences are to the fore on the up-tempo, rhythmic and contemporary 'Crash and Burn,' while following number 'Clean' starts with a funky riff before dropping to a mid-tempo groove with a well-performed vocal part and a simple but effective chorus.
The album closes out with R'n'B number 'Shadows,' which features a harmonica part from Leo Smith.
The song is another up-tempo with sparse arrangement, driven along by the rhythm section to good effect. Another good chorus elevates this number further.
'Shadows' makes for a strong finish to an album that, aside from a couple of misfires, helps illustrate the band, who boast Jewish, Jamaican and Irish backgrounds – cultural diversity with a myriad of musical influences (Thin Lizzy for one, as the album cover homage clearly depicts) – are, as has been described: "reclaiming the blues and rock 'n' roll for the younger generation."
More multi-styled power to them.
Nelson McFarlane
FabricationsHQ
Ryan Yard – Veteran
By its low key and independently promoted nature Veteran, a solo piano based album of original instrumental compositions from Ryan Yard, isn’t destined to be a leading seller or spotted in any classical chart (although given the emotive playing, compositional strength and its raison d'être, you can argue it should be).
It does however manage to be a lovely example of cause and effect – in two very different ways.
Veterans who have served in hostile climes, conflict and war all too often return from the fray with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), the mental health issues and emotional anguish of which can cause more damage than any physical injury; that’s cause and effect writ large.
But there’s also donating to such a cause, the effect of which, when contributing through Ryan Yard’s JustGiving page to help raise awareness of PTSD and other mental health conditions in veterans, was to receive a copy of this calming, moving and in places truly poignant album.
'The Dream,' based on a slumbering, repeating piano motif, opens the album in understated but mood setting fashion before the more evocative 'Hero' sets a bigger scene (titles such as 'Hero,' the more contemplative unrest of 'Night,' which follows, 'Strength' and 'Salute' help paint the evocative picture; soothing mini-soundtracks to combat the more painful sounds that many conflict veterans can’t shake, or continue to hear).
The soothing lullaby charm of 'Sky' adds further texture before a beautiful string quartet performance of 'Memorial' acts as just that.
'Air' is as light and delicate as one might expect while 'Photograph,' as hinted at by the title, conjures images of loved ones and home.
'Strength' is perhaps the most classical (and impressive) composition on the album while the atmospheric keyboard-scapes of 'Salute' add contemporary sheen before giving way to a short but emotive piano sign-off.
Equally atmospheric is the eight-minute 'Symphony,' featuring Klaus Fischer on guitar and additional keys.
A reflective yet uplifting multi-layered composition, 'Symphony' is built atop a repeating piano line (think Mike Oldfield in a classical setting) that brings the album to a quite lovely conclusion.
Raise a salute to all veterans and Ryan Yard, who has released an album not for any monetary gain, but to help try and achieve genuine peace of troubled mind/s.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
PTSD Resolution (counselling and therapy for Forces’ Veterans, Reservists and their families):
www.ptsdresolution.org
It does however manage to be a lovely example of cause and effect – in two very different ways.
Veterans who have served in hostile climes, conflict and war all too often return from the fray with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), the mental health issues and emotional anguish of which can cause more damage than any physical injury; that’s cause and effect writ large.
But there’s also donating to such a cause, the effect of which, when contributing through Ryan Yard’s JustGiving page to help raise awareness of PTSD and other mental health conditions in veterans, was to receive a copy of this calming, moving and in places truly poignant album.
'The Dream,' based on a slumbering, repeating piano motif, opens the album in understated but mood setting fashion before the more evocative 'Hero' sets a bigger scene (titles such as 'Hero,' the more contemplative unrest of 'Night,' which follows, 'Strength' and 'Salute' help paint the evocative picture; soothing mini-soundtracks to combat the more painful sounds that many conflict veterans can’t shake, or continue to hear).
The soothing lullaby charm of 'Sky' adds further texture before a beautiful string quartet performance of 'Memorial' acts as just that.
'Air' is as light and delicate as one might expect while 'Photograph,' as hinted at by the title, conjures images of loved ones and home.
'Strength' is perhaps the most classical (and impressive) composition on the album while the atmospheric keyboard-scapes of 'Salute' add contemporary sheen before giving way to a short but emotive piano sign-off.
Equally atmospheric is the eight-minute 'Symphony,' featuring Klaus Fischer on guitar and additional keys.
A reflective yet uplifting multi-layered composition, 'Symphony' is built atop a repeating piano line (think Mike Oldfield in a classical setting) that brings the album to a quite lovely conclusion.
Raise a salute to all veterans and Ryan Yard, who has released an album not for any monetary gain, but to help try and achieve genuine peace of troubled mind/s.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
PTSD Resolution (counselling and therapy for Forces’ Veterans, Reservists and their families):
www.ptsdresolution.org