Duff McKagan – ‘Lighthouse’ (BFD/ Orchard/ Sony)

Duff McKagan – ‘Lighthouse’ (BFD/ Orchard/ Sony)

Duff certainly has been a busy boy in the last 18 months since his last solo album hit the streets. Touring with his day job in Guns n Roses, playing on the new magnificent eclectic Iggy Pop album and finding the time to record his latest eclectic masterpiece. ‘Lighthouse is less an acoustic reflective and dark affair that the last one was but is more upbeat whilst still retaining the Americana acoustic feel for large swathes of this effort. Title track and sombre opener merely eases you in for the epic widescreen adventure of ‘Longfeather’ thats like an arcing sunrise of sound bursting through the speakers, McKagan leads the band with an excellent engagingly warm vocal that will have you hanging off his every word as the sound build and builds.

I must admit I’m really impressed with this more mature Duff we are hearing, it would be easy for him to hash out a roots punk rock n roll record or lean on his day job band but instead he digs deep and really works on the melodies and arrangments and the huge brush strokes that paint this rich tapestry of rock n roll. ‘Holy Water’ builds on a solid bass line as it weaves a crooked path through some great vocals towards its lush chorus its a beautiful thing at volume.

‘Hope’ (featuring veteran Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr and melodic lead guitar from Slash) and the philosophical ‘I Just Don’t Know’ (featuring contributions from McKagan’s longtime friend, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains) to name check some of the players who lend a helping hand to these deeply personal songs.

‘I Saw God On 10th Street’ is an acoustic rocker that has one foot in acoustic punk rock whilst the energy and buskability is what drives this song towards the superb electric solo and handclaps that raise your soul and paint a smile on the coldest heart. ‘Fallen Down’ is a beautiful slice of organ driven soulful balladry bu tthe albums biggest strength is the ebb and flow and quality of the songs delivery and that has to be down to the fact that McKagan truly believes in the words he’s singing and its joyful even in the darkest corners of this record.

Don’t be disapointed that its not like bursting with punk rock n roll anthems because the ones here like ‘Just Another shakedown’ deliver enough quality next to the ebb and flow I was talking about earlier next to the sweet ‘the Fallen Ones’ and then were onto ‘Hope’ where Slash plays a blinder as the song shuffles to its powerful conclusion. In contrast Cantrells playing on penultimate track ‘I Just Don’t Know’ is laid back and empathetic rather than showing off and its all about the song and not the player which makes the songs even better.

Leaving the ‘Lighthouse reprise’ to wrap up a fantastic journey through another mighty fine record from Duff McKagan and having Iggy Pop speak as the sunsets on one of 2023’s finest albums it’s the two musicians who played on my favousite from way back in January because this and ‘Every Loser’ will easily make my top 10 for 2023. Buy It!

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Auther: Dom Daley

Richard Duguay – ‘Beautiful Decline’ (Cursed Blessings Records)

Richard Duguay – ‘Beautiful Decline’ (Cursed Blessings Records)

You may be forgiven if you are unaware of the name Richard Duguay, but the Canadian musician (now residing in LA) has the rock n’ roll credentials ladies and gents. He first came to prominence as bassist and then guitarist for Canadian punk legends Personality Crisis in the early 80’s and went on to contribute guitars to Guns n’ Roses version of ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory’ in the early 90’s. He has spent the last 20 years in LA playing and recording, his most recent release was a concept album entitled ‘Bad Juju’, which was written and recorded with co-writer/guitar slinger Marc Floyd.

He now follows up that album with ‘Beautiful Decline’, which takes the same 70’s rock n’ roll influences, the street punk of Detroit and New York City, and adds psychedelic sonics and dynamic arrangements that promise to turn heads and make impressions that last.

The first impressions of ‘Beautiful Decline’ certainly do impress. If you dig the dark, theatrical rock of vintage Alice Cooper, the dangerous thrill of Iggy & The Stooges and the glamour of New York Dolls, then hold on to your sequined jacket baby, because you are in for a real cool time.

“I never met a sucker who didn’t have it coming” drawls Duguay over urgent beats and low-slung guitars on opener ‘Wasteland’. With more than a hint of Scandinavian leather it then descends into a cool as you like breakdown, before kicking ass back into a race to the climax. That’ll do nicely sir, I’m sold!

A shameless cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s ‘The Faith Healer’ follows. It is transformed into a more theatrical and OTT beast, one that you feel the mighty Coop would’ve done himself back in the day. Yeah, sorta Alice Cooper meets Bigelf here, as there is a trippy, psychedelic vibe going on.

The theatrical theme continues with the most excellent ‘Kid Stardust’. Pianos and mass vocals take charge over a character-based narrative. It seems there is more to Richard Duguay’s songwriting than meets the eye, as the arrangements and the dynamics are clever and well executed all over this album. I mean, ‘Prepare The Dogs Of War’ is a 6-minute epic with haunting female vocals, stabs of piano, multi sections of music and twangy, spaghetti western guitars. And that’s just the first of two 6-minute epics! More ambitious and glorious than the street punk cover art would lead you to believe. Even Duguay’s vocals here are as menacing as anything Alice, or even Marilyn Manson has concocted.

There are straight ahead rockers as well though. ‘Get In Line’ has a glam slam ride of a chorus with killer backing vocals and percussion, both thrilling in unison. Yet again, our songwriter fits in another crazy ass, mid-song breakdown that verges on something The Police would’ve done with the tune, before breaking back into that killer bridge that really hits hard coming out of that breakdown. A killer tune indeed.

Then the rifftastic ‘I Gotta Move’ gives off Hellacopters meets The Stooges vibes as sonically seductive guitars solo wildly over a killer chugging riff. Gang vocals are the icing on the cake of an album highlight.

Amongst the garage rock and the theatre are a couple of heartfelt acoustic moments worth mentioning. The emotive duet ‘Windows Walk’ screams Thunders/Palladin as Richard and his wife Paula Tiberius deliver a snippet of a song that is over seemingly as soon as it has begun. And album closer ‘Eyes Of Silence’ is a stripped-down affair with acoustic guitar and understated piano accompaniment. Again, the signature dynamics are at play with a stop here and there to add drama, and as it rides out on a tinkling of the ivories, the listener is left satisfied with a sense of completion and the desire to hit that play button once again.

With 11 songs that cover a wide spectrum of the rock n’ roll world, ‘Beautiful Decline’ is as ambitious as it is diverse. Each listen reveals more layers, as you come to realise it’s an album that is much more than the sum of its parts. Epic, theatrical rock with menacing undertones disguised as punky, garage rock. And lo and behold if Richard Duguay has seemingly come from nowhere and delivered one of the most ambitious and 70’s sounding rock albums of the year so far. Buy it before it sells out. 

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Author: Ben Hughes

Slash ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – ‘4’ (BMG Rights Management)

Slash ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – ‘4’ (BMG Rights Management)

The word legend gets thrown around quite a lot but when it comes to Slash it definitely is justified as you would have to have lived under a rock for years not to have heard of the guitar slingers feral rock’n’roll band Guns N’ Roses which launched the guitarist into the public eye all those years ago but Slash is no one-trick pony and has released quality music with his own bands Slash’s snakepit, Velvet revolver and now the Conspirators.

So let’s get stuck into album 4.

The album’s first track roars out of the speakers and is titled “The river is rising” and it’s got a killer riff that is an instant earworm.

Up next we have “Whatever gets you by” that starts off with a nice rhythmic drum pattern before bass and guitars come crashing in and Myles’s voice soars beautifully over the top and this is another gem of a track.

“C’est la vie” is a hypnotic track with an instantly catchy melody and infectious chorus that will surely make this a crowd favorite when played live.

“The path less followed” and “Actions speak louder than words” are both great rockers that keep the album flowing nicely.

“Spirit Love” is a standout with a middle eastern sounding riff that drags the listener in and as always Myles vocals are on top form.

Just when you think how can this album get any better “Fill My world” pops up and is this reviewers personal favorite off this great album as it’s reminiscent of that classic GNR song “Sweet child of mine” with a gorgeous melody but never falls into the rehash category and sounds so fresh and vibrant.

“April Fool” and “Call off the dogs” are rollicking rock songs that keep this fast-paced album rattling along.

All great things must come to an end and what a way to finish off this triumphant album with the stunning “Fall back to earth” which is nearly 6 and a half minutes of pure musical bliss with epic guitar heroics and vocal gymnastics.

Slash with Myles Kennedy and the conspirators can hold their collective heads up high as album ‘4’ is quality from start to finish and is an album that just gets better with every listen.

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Author: Gareth ‘Hotshot’ Hooper