Skam - Peacemaker album review

SKAM consist of Steve Hill – Vocals / Guitar and occasional Wyld Stallions aficionado, ‘X’-Ray Peverill – drums, and Matt Gilmore – Bass, and most frenetic purveyor of his kind in rock today. Its been about 3 yrs ago since I was grabbed by the ears and introduced to their music when they supported someone or other in Manchester. Any who, SKAM are the in you face band who wear their influences on their sleeves, round their neck and knitted into beanies – from Sabbath, Priest, Maiden and DC – but with a tidy infectious groove, riff laden rock. The lads have recently done a Dan Reed and embarked on a living room tour, where you can get Leicester’s finest to (most probably) rock your foundations. I’d go for SKAM any day of the week as Dan Reed charges a small fortune! SKAM’s debut was a very promising one indeed, so is Peacemaker a decent follow up that will take them to the next level?

Without getting into too much detail the first few songs pass by without any incident or excitement! Opening intro ‘Langundo’ (meaning Peaceful) is a tribute to spaghetti westerns; ‘Make You Pay’ and ‘Rivers’ are decent enough but it’s only when you get to ‘Holy City’ that the SKAM ante is upped. The choice of ‘Holy City’ as the single to tie in with the album release is a wise one as its groove certainly is a sit up and listen moment. It has a nice underlying bass riff with a chugging guitar riff setting the pace.

Its when you get to the title track that it shows that SKAM have what it takes and the whole process – construction, style, groove – shoes that they are coming into their own as a decent rock band that’s going places. ‘The Wire’ is the longest track on Peacemaker and has a certain anthemic quality to it. Couple this with some great guitar playing from Hill and it’s a killer. ‘Fortune Favours The Brave’ again feature what is becoming the SKAM groove. To be honest there are times when you wonder if it’s a 3-piece you are actually listening to as the production and overall sound is boosted beyond what you would expect. ‘The Prince again has a Tool vibe to the guitar riff and powers along at pace. ‘Precious Stone’ is probably the closest SKAM come to showering us with a ballad, but hold on there…it still comes with some balls out guitar playing. ‘The Zone’ is about trying to write a hit song, trying to get in ‘The Zone’. Lets Get Rocked’ is a simple rock tune (now’t wrong with that!) in the style that Bonafide would be proud of.  ‘More Or Less’ takes me back to Communics ‘Under A Luminous Sky’! SKAM are high up the list of 3 piece bands plying their trade and sit amongst some quality luminaries such as Rush, The Winery Dogs, Kings X & Communic, and you cant say fairer than that.

Despite my early misgivings, SKAM still have an album of undoubted quality on their hands. You can buy this album from Amazon (other stores available) for the measly sum of £5.99. What are you waiting for…..?

My only gripe is with iTunes. These fuckers labeled it as ‘Dance & House’. Knobs!

BUY PEACEMAKER HERE _  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peacemaker-Skam/dp/B00LJM4HOI/?tag=plane09-21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15VF32tOrck

Score 90/100

Tracklist - 

Langundo

Make You Pay

Rivers

Holy City

Peacemaker

The Wire

Fortune Favours The Brave

The Prince

Precious Stone

The Zone

Lets Get Rocked

More Or Less

The Winery Dogs / Voodoo Six Gig Review, The Slade Rooms Wolverhampton - Mon 7.7.14

The Voodoo Six of 2014 are a different animal to the Voodoo Six I encountered in my early days at Roomthirteen towers as a very green reviewer. I stated back then on 2008 that the future of British rock music is in good hands. Okay so they have not taken on the world as I expected, but they are still going in the right direction and hopefully domination is just a right break and a small step away

Vocalist Luke Purdie commented that “we’re not twats like Oasis, we do usually move around a bit”. If you missed V6 and thought The Dogs couldn’t swing a cat then this for V6 was the equivalent of V6 trying to swing a cat whilst wearing a suit of armour whilst sat in a kids Wendy house, etc. It was cramped, ok!

Falling Knives the opener from Songs To Invade Countries To set out their stall , with Chris Jones showing from the start that he’s a lean, mean, guitarist machine! Voodoo Six are not flashy, but they have a very decent groove rock style that is impossible not to start shaking your head to

The guys set weighs heavily on STICT and that’s probably for the right reason. They have come a long way since First Hit For Free, and Stop is a song that proves this point to the max. Lead Me On is the closest they come to a so called ballad and its their only attempt to cool down proceedings, before the riff kicks in with a classic rock vibe. Take The Blame, and excellent song from 2010’s Fluke is as close as they come to being radio friendly ( I say that as a sincere form of flattery), as it’s a highlight of their short set.  Sink Or Swim has us down the front grooving away with the band, and it’s a good sign when they get to the final number Something For You, that the set has flown by

Voodoo Six may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they deserve to be given a chance. Thanks to gigs like this, they will play to well over a thousand people in just 2 days (shitloads more if you include Sonisphere), and if anything is to go by – they had the audience well and truly on their side. I’m still plugging them for being a safe set of hands, and a stab at being involved in the future of British rock

Setlist

Falling Knives

All That Glitters

Stop

Take The Blame

Lead Me On

Your Way

Sink Or Swim

Something For You

The Winery Dogs are appearing on a short mini UK tour on the back of their Sonisphere appearance. Where time is limited at a festival, that massive crowd queuing outside the small, bijou, and furnace like Slade Rooms for what would turn out to be (in my opinion a truly memorable gig) and a full on, in yer face Winery Dogs immersive experience. Complete with their own splash zone, but more on that a little later

Slade Rooms are a marmite venue – small, compact, little actual view unless you’re in the first couple of standing rows, or are a complete freak of nature and you’re in the 6’6’’ category. Basically these twats usually stand right down the front anyway! So spec was grabbed (near the front), and two things became immediately clear – firstly that it would be the hottest gig in ages (hot also because of their performance), and secondly, movement from both bands would be limited as there was no stage room whatsoever

That said – it was only Billy Sheehan that had the ability to flex his boundary. The Dogs have 3 performers who are at the top of their profession. If Carlsberg did rock bands, then this was it. Billy Sheehan – the best bass player in the world? Probably. No, definitely! Mike Portnoy has very few peers when it comes to drumming, possibly only has Neal Peart as a challenger. Finally Ritchie Kotzen – Singer/guitarist. I doubt he would appear in many peoples top 10 lists as either a singer or guitarist. I tell you know – anyone that thinks that is wrong, with a capital WRONG!

Kotzen has the playing chops, and is also a truly wonderful voice. Not only that the bloke is cool looking dude, with a bohemian rock appearance – black vest, tight fitting cardie, and an beardy hirsute look. Top this off with piercing blue eyes and when combined with the guitar and vocal range, this bloke has the whole package.

The Dogs didn’t hold back and blitzed the audience from the off with Elevate, and The Slade Rooms erupted as one sweaty mass. Anyone who has visited Sea World In Orland is aware of the ‘Splash Zone’ at the Shamu stadium. If you sit in the first 10 rows you will get wet. Well the same theory here, only its provided by 550 hot melting bodies, and more importantly you are in the range of Portnoy’s spit!

Its somewhat inevitable when a band only has one album out and they go on tour, they have no option but to play the whole thing. In the case of The Dogs, that’s no bad thing, as this puppy sat at the top of my fave album list for 2013. It was not exactly a drum solo, but Portnoy played everything possible on The Other Side – the mic stands, Billy’s Bass, drum frame, everything was not out of his jurisdiction, and dexterity. After the trancing Six Feet Deeper, Kotzen took the lead on the Leaves/Hendrix classic Hey Joe, showing he is every bit the guitar hero.

Is he a guitarist that just plays the bass? Sheehan is without doubt the finest example of bass playing I have ever witnessed. It’s the best part of 30years since I saw him, and he has lost none of his power and explosive playing for his solo spot or otherwise. There was showing off, but in the finest sense, as he wrung every single note out of his Yamaha bass, and complemented Kotzen perfectly, not just filling in Kotzens gaps, but also matching him note for note. Kotzen shone, a lot. But it was for his acoustic solo spot covering his own Doin’ What The Devil Says To Do, that he shone the brightest, Richie Kotzen is a very emotive and passionate performer

 Kotzen played the piano for the very soulful Regret for the encore, before they absolutely ripped the room apart buy playing the old Talas/DLR classic Shyboy. Sheehan took the vocal lead before Portnoy took over, and with the sonic pyrotechnics of Sheehan’s bass and Kotzen’s guitar, it was the perfect and fitting finale. I actually broke out in an all over goose bump at this point!

I’ve never seen 3 people sweat so much in my entire 47years. Portnoy wrung his top out, but only after he paid tribute to the late Keith Moon by trashing his kit after the finale. My sympathies go out to his drum tech!

Fuck the MEN arena or whatever name its called this week, small gigs are the future. Being 6f away from your musical heroes is the best way to spend an evening, along with 550 future mates called the audience. The Winery Dogs are one of the finest outfits you will see plying their trade today or any other day.

These guys have all played to much bigger crowds in their past careers, but I doubt they ever got the buzz that they got for a very up close an personal encounter like this evening

Setlist

Elevate
Criminal
We Are One
One More Time
Time Machine
Damaged
Six Feet Deeper
The Other Side
(Billy solo spot)
You Saved Me
Not Hopeless
I’m No Angel
The Dying
Desire


Encore:
Regret
Shy Boy

Night Ranger - High Road Album Review

Release Date - 6th June
Frontiers Records

Iconic arena-rockers Night Ranger are set to release their eleventh studio album, ‘High Road’.  The cover art for ‘High Road’, incorporates elements of the artwork from the band’s previous releases (very clever).

Of the new album, front man/bassist/songwriter Jack Blades commented, “It’s almost summer and a great time to take a trip down the High Road’!  Our new record features classic Night Ranger feel-good, high-energy kick-ass rock n’ roll.  We can’t wait for our fans to hear.”  Drummer/singer Kelly Keagy added, “We’re so proud of this new record and excited to get back on the road to bring the new music to our fans.” The strength of the songwriting is the key here, and if you’re an existing fan, then you cannot fail to be disappointed and every track has Night Ranger thru the middle like a stick of rock!!

‘High Road’ is instantly memorable, form the opening keyboard bars to the punchy chorus and follows on from where ‘Growing Up In California’ left off, only this is MUCH better. I can picture an 80s video with the gang in a mustang convertible going down the 101, even if the real video doesn’t show this, this is what the song is evoking in my mind, its an instant classic

‘Knock Knock Never Stop’ has both Blades and Keagy sharing vocal duties, and it has them proclaiming ‘Rock And Roll To The End,’ and is more of a statement than a song, as I expect these guys to be doing exactly that. ‘Rollin On’ is pretty heavy by Night Ranger standards these days, and harks back to the earlier stuff – stuff being ‘Seven’

'Don’t Live Here Anymore' gives the first solo opportunity for Kelly Keagy to flex his pipes, and he is a good a singer as he was 30-odd years ago. It’s a cowboy song of exquisite quality, brought up to this standard with Gillis’ and Hoekstra’s blinding guitar work. Gillis has to be one of the most underrated guitarists in rock

I’m Coming Home is another road song and again features the dual vocal attack. ‘X Generation’ sees Hoekstra and Gillis trading licks, and coupled with Keagy’s rasping vocals it’s a blend of classic sounding Night Ranger with a 21^st century kick. Night Ranger wouldn’t be Night Ranger if it weren’t for ballads, and ‘High Road’ has two of them in ‘Only For You Only’ and ‘Brothers’ falling almost into country then rock. Country is good I tell ya! ‘St. Bartholomew’s’ is another kiss ass rock track and they throw the kitchen sink at it. ‘LA No Name’ sees us out. An acoustic instrumental and is a subtle end.

It’s fair to say that Night Ranger have pulled out the stops for ‘High Road’. It is definitely a summer feel good album if ever I heard one and probably their finest in about 30 years, and stands up well alongside the established classics that Night Ranger have offered. Who says there’s no life-blood in modern melodic rock? These wily old dogs can still show the new breed a thing or two with some quality radio friendly rock n roll. This will surely sit at the top of people’s melodic rock gems of 2014.

Score 85/100

Night Ranger is: Jack Blades (bass guitar, vocals), Kelly Keagy (drums, vocals), Brad Gillis (lead & rhythm guitars), Joel Hoekstra (lead & rhythm guitars) and Eric Levy (keyboards).

Tracklisting: 

High Road;

Knock Knock Never Stop;

Rollin' On;

Don't Live Here Anymore;

I'm Coming Home;

X Generation;

Only For You Only;

Hang On;

St. Bartholomew;

Brothers;

L.A. No Name (Bonus)

California Breed - ST Album Review

Many, many bands have hotly anticipated albums. Many again are classed as supergroups. Can’t say I particularly like the term ‘Supergroup’ as it’s a way of describing big names from other bands coming together. California Breed is just a band, but I suspect that have the capability to be a ‘super’ group rather than a ‘Supergroup’. Their debut is one that is definitely highly anticipated.

If you’ve been under a rock for the past few months, then you don’t deserve to listen to this. Sometimes when bands break up it’s a bad thing. As was the case with Black Country Communion, but I doubt anyone expected that California Breed might be a band with even bigger hype. The proof they say is in the pudding – only this pudding is a Michelin starred pudding, but more on that in a second.

Its no fluke that CB picked the right producer – Dave Cobb (he of Rival Sons), has gone back 30-40 yrs and completely avoided Protools and gone analogue tape. One notable mention is that the album was recorded as ‘live’ as it could be, even to the surprise of the band themselves, and boy has this methodology paid dividends.

Its taken me back to the early 80s and my teens when the music industry was a different animal. Albums were hyped, and mobile phones and the internet were an age away. You had to read stuff like Sounds, then Kerrang to know what was going on. All that led to an excitement when you put the needle on your vinyl album. This is exactly the same feeling I had when getting this beauty home.

Straight up on ‘The Way’, the aural assault from the combined force of Bonhams fluid drumming, Watts economic guitar playing, and combine this with trademark bass and silky blues vocals from Hughes and its…Bang….right from the off. It harks back to the days of Zeppelins Black Dog, and this has just about the same bite! The first few bars of ‘Sweet Tea’ remind me of a rocked up ‘Nutbush City Limits’, and coming together for a great chorus and proves a great choice for the single. The quality just keeps coming – Andrew Watts playing is fantastic. How a lad of his young age is playing this style, with the influences he has a such an age, is just amazing. There must be 25yrs between him and Bonham, and 40 with Hughes. It proves that age has no bearing at all, and having Watt in this band has taken years off of the other two. Forget Bonamassa, Watt is heavier, classic rock influenced, and has the tools to be one of the best.

‘Midnight Oil’ is the Rolling Stones on steroids, and with additional soulful female BV’s adding to Glenn’s vocals. Cobb has captured the vocals live, and in doing so, this is probably the best he has sounded in over 25 years. ‘All Falls Down’ starts off as a moving piece and soon picks up into a crescendo, rising and falling like the sea

‘The Grey’, ‘Strong’, and ‘Invisible’ all kick off with a certain power and strength, allowing Hughes to do his bit and take them to a higher level. Bonham like Hughes never sounded better. Take ‘Days They Come’, Bonham’s drum break is like father, like son! ‘Spit You Out’ has Hughes double tracking the vocals to nice effect. ‘Scars’ fades out like it shouldn’t be allowed as Watt is ripping the studio up with his playing. ‘Breathe’ sees Hughes go into his Robert Plant phrasing, and is a fitting end to a truly fantastic album, an album that is rock solid from beginning to end

The deluxe version (for an extra fiver) has a bonus track, ‘Solo’, and sings about the ‘California Breed exhilaration’ of which he is not wrong. Also included is a DVD including videos for 'Sweet Tea', and 'The Way', and an interesting (but short, 20mins) 'making of.'

Many bands try to replicate 70s recorded albums and fail miserably. Fair enough the CB guys didn’t always know what Cobb was up to, but he has achieved a masterstroke – California Breed is one of the must have albums to own this year, or any other year. Dig out the flares, platforms, patchouli oil and crank this sucker up, and party like its 1975.

Score 95/100

California Breed are -

Glenn Hughes

Jason Bonham

Andrew Watt

Frontiers Festival - Day 3, Live Club Trezzo sull'Adda, 3rd May 2014

DAY 3

As it’s the weekend, Day 3 returns to a rammed Live Club. First to benefit from this are Crazy Lixx, who are more in the Motley Crue school of rock than melodic rock, and their sleaze/glam rock style definitely kicks a few of the previous days hangover into touch. WTF, ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ definitely has its polish due to the twin guitar attack of Dawson and Liam. Frontman Danny Rexon leads the line well, and takes his persona from some pretty decent rock gods. The latter half of their set was pretty damn good – ‘Riot Avenue’, ‘Blame It On Love’, ‘21 Till I Die’ and finishing with the excellent ‘Heroes Are Forever’, which at this rate should see them fulfill their prediction (7.5/10)

I was looking forward to seeing this Norwegian rock goddess. I was hooked from the debut album, and Issa rocked up looking resplendent in high heeled thigh length boots which at one point nearly became her downfall. Opening with Boulevard's ‘Dream On’, Issa was in the benefit of a pretty shit hot band, and backing vocals again come from DelVecchio. 'Invincible' is sandwiched between two of her finest songs ‘Angels Crying’, and ‘I’m Alive’, after which she discussed the weather '’Im so pale, I’m from Norway'’. Well it’s not Norway Issa, it’s the fact you live in bloody Yorkshire that gives you that pale complexion. Finishing with Aviators ‘Can’t Stop’, Issa definitely made a mark with the crowd (7.5/10)

Jeff Scott Soto is a quite different proposition in doing his own thing. Only this time the order of the day is the colour black. He has surrounded himself by a set of fairly young guns from South America and beyond. The question is, when you’ve been doing the rounds as long as JSS has, what on earth do you pick to choose, as the choice is immense - Takara, Malmsteen, Talisman, Soul Sirkus and his own solo stuff. For ‘Take You Down’, guitarist Jorge Salan knows how to rip the place up, and again, like other bands over the course of this festival, the harmonies are sublime. ‘21st Century’ allows Jeff to show off his funky side, and ‘Believe In Me’ and ‘Holding On’ are performed live for the first time in almost 10 years. When it comes to Jeff's extended medley the crowd go absolutely nuts - Talisman is the order of day and he throws the kitchen sink, cabinets, taps and plug at us all. Seal’s ‘Crazy’, and Madonna's ‘Frozen’ (not the Disney one) get an outing. After some discussion with the management to try to lengthen his set, he asks to play the riff of what he wants to sing. That song is Steel Dragons ‘Stand Up And Shout’, and for the first time today the Live Club was almost levelled. The bar has well and truly been raised for today (8.5/10)

If one bloke gives of the vibe 'rock star', then that bloke is John Waite. He's the only one to make an effort and go all Barney Stinson on us and 'suit up' for the occasion. One thing is for certain, he still possesses an excellent voice. Guitarist Keri Kelli's hair has the look of a panda/badger hybrid. Waite brings out his big guns playing songs from his exemplary past - The Babys ‘Back On My Feet Again’, ‘Every Time I Think Of You’ and ‘Head First’, to the Bad English crowd pleasers, ‘When I See You Smile’ (singing a capella for most), and ‘Best Of What I Got’. ‘Missing You’ was a must, and then finishing with Led Zepellin's ‘Whole Lotta Love’, quite unexpected, but  a bloody good version. Page and Jones need look no further should they want a replacement for Plant, I shit you not. My only misgiving was that there was something Missing (no pun intended), probably a keyboardist to fill in the gaps. Good, but I expected a little more (7/10)

Despite my final comment concerning JSS, if today’s event was a party, prior to Danger Danger it’s the musical equivalent of pass the parcel.  Suddenly it becomes the equivalent of 2000 revellers turning up at your mum’s house for the party of a lifetime. Once they come onto the stage Ted Poley proclaims "We're Danger Danger and we are going to kick your asses". If ever a statement was true to its word, this was it. A few people had reservations about today’s performance based on a previous UK performance where a lot of pissing around was evident. Today, it’s a very different and downright focused Danger Danger. One thing that immediately strikes me is how good Ted Poleys voice is. It took me by surprise I admit, and DD hit the ground sprinting with ‘Rock America’. Even tech difficulties with Steve West didnt halt the flow "we have technical difficulties, whereas in the old days we had testicle difficulties" proclaims Poley. If ever a band was going to make the most of a limited set then Danger Danger were the AOR equivalent of a typhoon/hurricane combined. For ‘I Still Think About You’, Poley decided to walk thru the bar area, to the end, and decided to walk his way from the back of the hall, through the crowd. He got about 50 feet covered before being mobbed and had to make a hasty retreat. DD saved the very best until last for superb renditions of ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘Naughty Naughty’. Quite a few bands proclaim to be part bands, but after this performance no one quite does it like Danger Danger (9.5/10). Firefest revellers watch out! P.S. Think I may have been subjected to some tomfoolery as looking back on my notes I apparently like boys cocks! Rob Evans, you’re a twat!!

I was a bit worried about how Winger would respond to the Danger Danger whirlwind that landed on Trezzo 'sullAdda and kicked everyone’s asses. Straight from the off, Kip Winger proves he has one of best vocal ranges over the whole festival, and is in fine fettle indeed. Whilst not the original line up. Winger have 75% originals covered in Reb Beach and Rod Morgenstein. Completing the line up is the versatile 'other bloke' that no one seemed to get his name as Roth was on duties with Starship. Opening with the new ‘Midnight Driver Of A Love Machine’, its a well-received new track that fits in well with the 'classic' Winger repertoire. Winger have certainly been the whipping boys for a number of years, but they are definitely a musicians band as even Ted Poley was spotted at the side of the stage singing his arse off for the likes of ‘Pull Me Under’ and ‘Blind Revolution Mad’. Even Winger can make their own fans despair a little. Technically superb, they can even border onto progressive at times, but when they do this on the last couple of songs, their intention comes over as being pretentious, rather than down to 'look at us, aint we cool'. Musically and vocally Winger were very good, but having the slot after Danger Danger and before Night Ranger, they had to pull out all the stops, just to compete, and on this part they just lacked that little extra that was needed (7/10)

Night Ranger were here to show EVERYONE over the course of the last three days how to put on a show. They have probably been doing this gig every weekend for the last 10 years, and it’s a polished performance as the door knockers in Mr.Sheens test laboratory. Intro playing is AC/DCs ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’, an unusual choice for a melodic rock band, but a welcome warmer upperer. Jack Blades has to be one of the most energetic front men I have ever witnessed, and certainly belies his years. Basically its 3/5 of the original line up, with Blades, Keagy and Gillis, with both Eric Levy and especially Joel Hoekstra fitting in nicely. Night Ranger offer up one hell of a set list  - ‘A Touch Of Madness’, ‘Sentimental Street’, ‘Secret Of My Success’, intertwined with a couple of Damn Yankee songs :- ‘Comin Of Age’ and ‘High Enough’. I like both songs (a lot) but I don’t see the need for NR in playing them, especially when they have such an extensive and excellent back catalogue. That said, NRs harmonies are sublime, especially when you have Blades and Keagy in tow. Definitely, you won’t be seeing Gillis on many guitar award, but you have to see him to believe him, as he truly is one of the finest rock guitarists of his generation, wringing every note and emotion out of his guitar. ‘Dont Tell me You Love Me’ spills out into Deep Purple's ‘Highway Star’ as a close, before coming back for the obligatory Keagy classic ‘Sister Christian’, and they prove that (you can still) ‘Rock In America’, Milan or any other country.

Night Ranger are a well-oiled machine. I would love to see then at their own gig where they could maybe play a little longer, but as a first time Night Ranger gigee they go right into my top bands I’ve ever witnessed in my 35yrs of gigging. All this from a band who should be past it, but are nowhere near it. Fan-fucking-tastic! (10/10)

Congratulations to all the guys at Frontiers for putting on one of the best festivals ever! Bring it on next year


Pics courtesy of Sam Compton