Review: Jack Blades “Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride”

Rock/AOR
On the heels of a new comeback album with Night Ranger, Jack Blades is already back with a fresh set of tunes constituting his second solo record, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride”. The man should need no introduction, so if you want to get to the album review, just skip to the next paragraph. For those who aren’t aware, Blades achieved multi-platinum success with five studio albums by Night Ranger in the 80s. Jack then co-founded the super group Damn Yankees with Tommy Shaw (Styx). In 1995, he continued his budding collaboration with Shaw to form Shaw/Blades. Across these three successful groups, Blades has earned a gold star for his songwriting skills, and has penned tunes for many other artists including Aerosmith, Cher, Alice Cooper, Roger Daltrey, Great White, Journey, Ozzy Osbourne, and Styx, many appearing in major films.

Like his solo debut in 2003, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride” contains an abundance of potent rock anthems and includes a few notable guests. In addition to some of his Night Ranger band mates, the new release features Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) on “Anything For You” – one of the best tunes on the record - and some beats laid down by Brian Tichy (Whitesnake). The record plays like a celebration of the art of rock n’ roll, full of bright, positive energy from start to finish. True to his own words, Blades commented, “’Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride’ is an extension of what my music has been for the last 30 years. It has been quite a rock n’ roll ride and I decided to lay it all down on a record!”

In addition to “Anything For You”, there are many highlights on this record to mention. Blades charges back into action with the take-no-prisoners opener, “Back In The Game”. The tune harps back to his gritty rock roots, but shines with an optimistic attitude and radio-friendly melody – it is hard not to be invigorated by this one. The classics 80s AOR riffs of “Love Life” brought back some pleasant nostalgia, and the arena ready rocker “Say You Will” and mid-tempo affirmation “Don’t Give Up” will get you off your feet. On the tender side, Blades delivers as expected on the magnificent “Hardest Word To Say”.

“Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride” will be available in late March (Frontiers Records), promising to be one of the greatest joyrides of the season!

Jack Blades – Official site.

Review: Cheap Trick "The Latest"

Always a pleasure to listen to something from the masters of modern power pop, Cheap Trick, and their "latest" is no exception. After 35 years, they are still delivering some of the sweetest melodic rock with all the intensity and thrills of a group of teenagers in their parent's garage. Talk about staying power...a lot of today's bands can learn from how these gentlemen get along. Three plus decades and the original line up remains intact: Robin Zander still sounds brilliant on vocals, Rick Nielsen still kicks out plenty of crunchy riffs, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos remain steady on the bass and drums, and all of them still provide those trademark backing vocals.

"The Latest" finds Cheap Trick flaunting a lot more of their Beatles influence than previous releases, with some tracks ("Miracle") making you check to be sure it isn't some obscure John Lennon cover. The production sounds amazing, with mixing by the masterful Chris Lord-Alge. There is a good mix of upbeat numbers among a healthy dose of their signature power ballads.

After beginning with a brief and surreal instrumental, the boys blast into an excellent cover of Slade's "When The Lights Go Out", which sounds better than most of the 70s covers on Def Leppard's "Yeah!" record. The rocking attitude continues with hooky new classics like "Miss Tomorrow" and "Sick Man of Europe". "These Days" sounds like a single that could have fit easily on "Busted", and "Everybody Knows" is one of their best ballads in recent years. Another highlight in this exceptionally strong set is the album closer, "Smile".

There is really nothing wrong with "California Girl", but do we really need another song about freakin' California? Let's hear a song about girls from Maryland or something. The only other minor complaint is that several of the tracks are way too short - they are more like ideas than full-fledged songs. The tragic thing is some of these, like "Everyday You Make Me Crazy", are great ideas and would have made killer tunes.

All things considered, I rank "The Latest" as one of Cheap Trick's greatest (and most consistent) records in a long time. In a perfect world, this one would be the ticket restoring Cheap Trick to their rightful place on top the pop and rock charts.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13

Cheap Trick on MySpace. Official site.

Review: Tinted Windows "Tinted Windows"

If I were to assemble a rock supergroup, I don't think I would have ever dreamed up the combination that constitutes Tinted Windows. We have Taylor Hanson (Hanson (duh)) doing the lead vocals, James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) on guitar, Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy) on bass, and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) beating the skins.

It is easy to take shots at this band, and many critics have ripped them apart already. I won't argue that the songs are musically simple with lyrics that are just one rung up the evolutionary ladder of your typical Hanson tune (ok, maybe down a rung in some cases - "Cha Cha"). Surprisingly, most of the songs were written by Schlesinger, but are devoid of his usual humor and clever wordplay. I guess you could say he tailored the songs for Taylor. But the point of this record is not lyrical sophistication - it is supposed to be light, fun, and catchy...and on those three criteria, Tinted Windows is wildly successful.

The record is buoyant 70s bubblegum pop with a modern rock kick, not unlike what The Raspberries might be doing today. And Taylor's voice fits the rock groove very well. "Kind of a Girl" is the perfect summer sonnet sure to energize your mood: a by-the-book melodic rocker. Other highlights include "Messing With My Head" and "Nothing To Me".

Call it low brow, musical junk food, a guilty pleasure - regardless, the feel good pop rock of Tinted Windows will be blasting out of my car speakers all summer.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9

Tinted Windows on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for "Kind of a Girl":