Black Aces – Anywhere But Here (CD)

When I listen to the Black Aces album I can’t help wondering how many times you can re-cycle the formula created by AC/DC. We already have hundreds, if not thousands, of bands that have used, misused, developed, re-vamped and copied what the Aussies once created. There’s your Airbourne, ’77, Bullet, Rhino Bucket, Rose Tattoo, Bonafide, Dynamite, Upper Crust etc etc. So, what new ingredients have fellow Australians Black Aces brought to the brew? Well, I can’t really find any to be honest. The singer is trying to put his spin on the Bon Scott era high-pitch vocals and the music has also taken on the late 70s AC/DC sound and style of song writing, even the backing vocals have the same rough football choir vibe as AC/DC had once they started adding this to their brew. At least some of the bands, such as Bonafide, put a new spin on the old coin and make it into a beast of their own, but unfortunately this is just blue print material, except maybe for the track “Short Changed” which has at least a slightly personal touch to it. If you’re a fan of AC/DC and have no problem with copy cats, this one’s definitely for you. The band does a great job doing what they do. The musicians are great, the sound kicks ass and the singer does a great job, so this is by no means a bad album in that sense. It’s just, a bit too unoriginal for me. If they had just dared to take a little step or two outside the box, that would have done a great deal.

Janne Stark

Label: Off Yer Rocka

Country: Australia

Year: 2017

Jay Jesse Johnson Band – Down The Hard Road (CD)

Jay Jesse Johnson (not to be confused with disco/funk rocker Jesse Johnson) has released a bunch of high class albums since his solo debut “Strange Imagination” in 2004. Before that he recorded an album with pomp rock band ArcAngel (featuring Jeff Cannata) in 1983 and in 1989 he released the album “Electrocution of the Heart” with AOR band Deadringer (featuring Charlie Huhn and Barry Dunaway among others). His solo albums are however quite far from the melodic rock scene. “Down The Hard Road”, like Jay’s previous solo efforts, are all about the blues. The album is all originals except for Booker T’s “Born Under A Bad Sign” and Roy Buchanan’s “The Messiah Will Come Again”. I remember reviewing Jay’s previous album “Set The Blues On Fire” two years ago. The album was a nice piece of hard edged blues rock. On this album Jay is leaning more towards the classic side of blues rock and boogie and he’s even added some horns on a couple of songs and there’s a piano solo in “Drive Me Home”. Jay is an outstanding guitarist with both incredible feel and great technique. Most of the songs are classic blues rock numbers, while “Tears Of An Angel” is a slow and slightly heavier blues ballad and “Bull In The Barn” offers some swift chicken pickin’. The aforementioned Buchanan cover “The Messiah Will Come” also offers a slightly different touch to the album, and I honestly hadn’t really thought about how this number must have had a great impact on Gary Moore when he wrote “The Loner” and “Parisienne Walkways”. Sweet notes a’ la carte.

Janne Stark

Year: 2017

Label: Grooveyard Records

Country: USA

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Link: www.grooveyardrecords.com

Universal Hippies – Evolution of Karma (CD)

Imagine if you throw a portion of well cooked vintage Wishbone Ash into a blender and then sprinkle a bit of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on top. You then sift the brew to get rid of all unnecessary shredding. Throw the shredding away and keep all that good tasty stuff. Pour it into a mold and make a nice CD of it. Voila! You’ve got the "Evolution of Karma"! This is the second CD by Greek instrumental rockers Universal Hippies and even though I really enjoyed their debut, “Mother Nature Blues”, this one takes it a step further in terms of tasteful melodies and great song material. There’s not a weak moment on this album and it has a great flow. This is definitely an album album, an album you listen to from beginning to end. The flow from one song to another is just sublime and Stavros Papadopoulos’ guitar playing is nothing short of phenomenal. His feel and tone are just awesome. Not forgetting the highly tasteful rhythm section featuring bass player Jim Petridis and drummer Chris Lagios, who really lay down the perfect grooves for the brew. The mix, also by Stavros, is crisp and clear with a lot of nice ambience. Very analogue and very live sounding. This is an outstanding album, indeed and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s into the melodic instrumental side of Wishbone Ash or Satch, when he slows it down and get his melodic mojo working.

Janne Stark

Country: Greece

Year: 2018

Label: Grooveyard Records

Link: www.grooveyardrecords.com