The first solo album by Tyla after the demise of one of the 80’s finest UK bands The Dogs D’Amour. Finally after so many reissues and remakes for vinyl this champion finally gets released on vinyl without any make overs or rerecordings. Now that might just please many Dogs fans who hanker back to a time when the classic Dynamite lineup ruled the airwaves.

You have to hark back to its original release date in ’94, (Remember dial up folks? When there used to be a chat room on a sunday of hardcore Dogs) when it only came out on CD and in the UK. It was right after the split of The Dogs D’Amour.

The album contains tracks featuring The Dogs D’Amour members, as well as a list of Tyla solo acoustic tracks. Well, this one comes pressed on vinyl with a gatefold sleeve and it’s been remastered for vinyl. Spread out over two delicious records it kicks off with the ragged glory of ‘Ballad Of Noone In Particular’ which is a slice of classic Dogs – barely hanging on by a thread its a reminder of how magical these guys were together when they entered a studio or a concert venue. Matched only by some of the best songs they wrote and recorded together since the early day’s songs like ‘All You Had’ are blooming marvelous. The Soulful wheeze of ‘Bloody Mary’ bares the band’s soul for sure with the backing vocals and keys adding touches of gold dust across a record that takes me back in time had the Stones written and recorded this the music press would have been all over it like a rash heralding a return to the glory days.

The guitar lick on the whistful meander through the rainy streets of old London town that signal the intro of ‘Where Were You’ is heartbreaking with Tyla hitting a high in his songwriting and lyrics – simply majestic. The organ wheeze of the Faces like ‘Little Things’ signals a howlingly good melancholic time that the band never quite reached when the band split and solo music appeared. Nobody did the blues quite like the Dogs.

Then ‘The Adultra’ comes in on a lick and a promise as Tylas vocals are full of heartbreak and soul as the acoustic balladmonger takes center stage for what turned out to be his finest collection of material post-original Dogs in my eyes. What follows is a master class in songwriting and solo balladeering no question. ‘Throw It All Away’ would have blown up had it been on the acoustic ‘Graveyard’ EP the band had delivered some years earlier. Truly haunting and epic in every sense the arrangement is immaculate as is the delivery. Simply spine-tingling.

I loved the simplicity and the storytelling of ‘The Town’ Tylas vocals never sounded so good and it has clearly stood the test of time. the piano and harmonica hit every note of your heart as they vibrate through your body. Tyla has had his moments throughout his career but not as consistently as this. this has no low point throughout be it the Dogs song or the piano bombast of ‘Spirit Of The Jag’ or the Blues of ‘The Whisper’ and ending with the spoken words of ‘King Of The Street’ and then silence before a certain duet gives you two black eyes and a broken nose.

As the near-perfect solo album has only been enhanced as it gets immortalised on wax with the artwork getting the sizing it deserves and the expansion of the Dog’s tracks adding that cherry on the icing on the sweetest cake ever.

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Author: Dom Daley