Check out the video Interview that Kenny recently had with Dane from Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons. Dane is the powerhouse in the engine room of one of the best albums that was released last year so it was down to Kenny to pin down his mate and get into talking all things Rock n Roll – Hit the YouTube line and check out this video and what makes Dane one of the nice guys in Rock n Roll.
South Wales has always been well known for producing serious talent. If you think back to the 90s, bands like Dub War, Flyscreen, 60-foot dolls, and of course Stereophonics and the Manics put South Wales on the musical map. We then had the likes of the Blackout, the Guns, Ruby Cruiser, Kids in Glass Houses etc who were also very successful. Now we have established acts like Bullet For My Valentine, Skindred, Phil Campbell & the Bastard Sons, and brand-new talent such as Florence Black and Those Damn Crows flying the Welsh flag around the world.
The latest of the Welsh dragons climbing the ladder are Valhalla Awaits. The band consists of ex members of The Blackout, Revoker, and the considerable vocal talents of Buffalo Summer frontman Andrew Hunt.
They have been gracing the stages of the summer festivals in recent months and they really are a force to be reckoned with live. After seeing the guys open proceedings at this year’s Steelhouse festival, I can confirm that Valhalla Awaits are the real deal. No egos or drama or fancy stage shows, just full-on heads down, stripped back riffage with a wonderful sense of melody that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries.
The guys are ready to drop their second EP Reckoning on an unprepared audience. I really hope you are ready to immerse yourself in the experience of this short, sharp collection of crushing tunes. Grab a cuppa, maybe a round of toast, put your headphones on and crank it up. The EP opens up with the first single Skin & Bone, a grungy, greasy, groovy number with a Machine Head tinged riff. Drummer ‘Snoz’ Lawrence plays a blinder here with some tasteful fills and he grooves along like a freight train.
Next up we have Rolling Thunder which is a more up-tempo affair with a massive chorus, I get a definite Alter Bridge vibe from this track. Some tasty guitar work helps to build the song along with Hunt’s velvety tones. The songs are more than heavy enough to satisfy the most hardened headbanger while never compromising melody. Where Do We Go? has an Alice In Chains feel to the vocal arrangement with another ear worm of a chorus. Guitarists Rhys Carter and Chris Green work incredibly well together, and there’s an air of confidence within the band that manifests strongly in the material found here on this EP.
The final of the four tracks Inside the Sun is my favourite by far, more crunchy riffs and superb soaring vocals melt into an extremely catchy chorus. The songs are well crafted, and the production is superb. The only downside is that there are only four tracks! Hurry up with an album boys!
If you haven’t already, check out Valhalla Awaits. If you’re a fan of any of the bands that I’ve mentioned above, you won’t be disappointed.
Reckoning is available on all streaming services on October 28th. You know what to do!
Author: Kenny Kendrick
Hi Geoff, welcome back to Wales.
“Thank you”
Have you got good memories of being in Wales?
“The first time we came to Wales was with Ronnie James Dio in 1984. I have a distinct memory of being in Cardiff on a day off, being in a nice hotel, and being in the bathtub. A fire alarm got set off by some of Dio’s crew members, this was a tour of pranksters. They thought it was great fun, I had to get out of the bath, go all the way downstairs in my bathrobe, go outside and stand in the street!”
Oh dear! Ha ha.
Queensryche played my favourite ever venue – Newport Centre a few times, I believe the last time was supporting Judas Priest on their Epitaph tour in 2011?
“That’s right, that was our last tour together”.
Did you keep busy during lockdown? Is there any more to come from Sweet Oblivion or have you recorded any more solo material?
“I’ve done all kinds of things, that’s all I did really was hang out in the studio, write stuff, yeah, primarily that’s all I did. I worked on the Sweet Oblivion album, the Avantasia album. I also wrote some music for two different projects of my own that will hopefully be launched sometime this year. Busy, busy y’know?”
Did you manage to keep your voice in shape?
“Well, it’s one thing to sing in the studio, it’s a whole different thing to sing live y’know? Starting back out live I had to work for a couple of weeks to get myself back on form again. Singing’s one of those things, that you just have to do, there’s no way around it. You have to power through it and do it. You just have to keep working at it.”
Why did you decide to play ‘Rage For Order’ in it’s entirety rather than say, ‘The Warning’?
“I love the album, absolutely love it. It’s my second favourite Queensryche album. My favourite is the last album we did together, Dedicated to Chaos, that’s the one I listen to the most.
What are your favourite songs to perform live from ‘Rage for Order’ and ‘Empire’?
“I love playing the whole albums. I tell the audience every night that it’s been on my bucket list to play Rage for Order, we never got to play it back in the day. We only played a couple of songs off the album, that’s kind of the curse of most albums, you never get to play everything y’know? You just get to play a couple of tracks because people wanna hear what they know. They are really into hearing what they are familiar with (laughs), some people are not musically adventurous. The best response you have from an audience when you’re playing your album or your songs is, you come out with a new album, you only play a couple of songs, the rest you play are oldies. Next year when you come back, they are starting to like and get used to those songs, it’s a cool dynamic”.
What are your memories about the recording of ‘Rage For Order’?
“The Rage For Order album was a really fun album to make from my perspective. We were working with Neil Kernon as a producer, and he was a wild man that we got to hang out with. One of the greatest personalities to be in the studio with, he could run with your idea, and he had such a vast technical background. At the time, I didn’t have much technical experience in the studio. I would say ‘I want my voice to do this, or I want this sound I’m making to do this’, he’d go ‘ok, I’ll just turn this up here, and oh!, let me plug this box in’ (laughs). He would always have a workaround on how to make it happen. He just came in with a jovial, happy personality, he was glad to be there and contribute, a really good ‘idea guy’. I loved working with him.
On the ‘Rage For Order’ tour, Queensryche supported the likes of Ratt, Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne. Did you ever feel pressured to play with other artists who were very different musically to you guys?
“We weren’t trying to sound like anybody, that whole idea of making bands conform to each other, that was later. We came in that great era when they put all kinds of different music together. We played with Jethro Tull (laughs), Roger Waters and the Psychedelic Furs. We also loved bands like Ratt, we had some great tours together, in fact we had a pretty intense bowling competition with those guys while on tour (laughs).
How do you juggle the touring and family life?
“It is what it is, my wife and I raised our kids on and off the road. They just grew up like that, they are used to travelling, eating in restaurants, being able to order a French meal (laughs). They have high expectations; they won’t go to a concert if they don’t have backstage passes y’know? (Laughs).
This week marks the 34th anniversary of your seminal album ‘Operation:Mindcrime’, how does that feel?
“It makes me feel old! (laughs) Most things make me feel old nowadays, it’s a strange time when you get into your sixties, you’re looking at all of this life that you’ve had. My grandkids are approaching their teenage years now. I’m doing shows, and everyone in the audience, has grey and white hair! (laughs) It’s just a really strange time, I don’t really see myself that way,as being an old fart, even though I am an old fart!”
Do you think that a concept album like Mindcrime would work in today’s environment with people’s poor attention spans?
“I don’t know..it was hard to get people to pay attention back in the eighties (laughs). That’s the thing about music, it’s a personal journey, music is a very personal thing for people. Some people are going to get it, some people aren’t. Some people hold music in a highly revenant regard in their lives, others don’t give a fuck”.
There’s a great line from the song Speak from the Mindcrime album: ‘The rich control the government, the media, the law’. Do you think that line is even more relevant in today’s society?
“I couldn’t even imagine the context of ‘rich’ in today’s situation with people being multi, multi billionaires y’know? (laughs) and then they don’t pay taxes, it seems incredibly wrong. A guy like Elon Musk, with a lot less that he paid for Twitter, he could eliminate hunger in the US for example. He could make a living wage for people, they could work and be paid a living wage which is enough to survive on, or at least live on. He could do so many wondrous things, but he buys a social media site, y’know? I can almost understand Jeff Bezos flying into space because they are looking for minerals and ways to mine that are not going to impact the earth”.
I must ask you about the Hear N Aid project back in 1984, how did you get involved?
“Ronnie James Dio called me, he said that was doing this thing and would I want to get involved in it. I absolutely said yes! I didn’t know what it was, or understand what it was, I just said yes, I’ll be there, just tell me what you want me to do. He sent me a cassette tape of the song Stars and a lyric sheet. A week later, I go down to LA and walked into A & M studios amidst this circus that was going on! There were so many people there, I was a very young man at the time, and I wasn’t used to that kind of situation where all of these very famous people that I looked up to and admired were all gathered together in this room. Many of them were sitting in the same room behind the glass listening to me sing my part which I didn’t know very well (laughs). It was very intimidating! It was a cool moment in time and Ronnie and Wendy (Dio) had great intentions and put their heart and soul into it. They brought together so many different people to participate, it was amazing. Especially as we didn’t have any social media or cell phones back then. I don’t know how they even got hold of all those people! (laughs).
You have a range of wine called Insania. Can we buy here in the UK?
“Normally yes, but everything is kinda messed up with the world transportation issues. If you’re in the UK you can order it from Germany, that’s where we make it, and they can send it to you. I need to find out if the Brexit thing will have an effect on the shipping too actually. Ironically, you can’t get it in the US (laughs) it’s because all of the ships are backloaded and delayed out a year. Thanks a lot Covid!”
You have another company called Backstage Travel, tell us about that. Is it back up and running? Fans can just book up and spend time with you eating and drinking?
“Yes, we just came on this tour from Tuscany, we did a weeklong trip with 32 people, and it was fun. If you like to travel, if you like to drink, if you like to eat great food, and if you like music, it’s a really fun trip to take y’know?”
What are your thoughts on the whole streaming debate?
“As long as they pay people fairly, then I’m all about it y’know? It’s one thing to make music and another thing to sell it, if you have an outlet that’s selling your stuff and you are being compensated fairly, then you’re way ahead of the game. It’s funny, the whole vinyl comeback thing, they’ve been saying that since the eighties, ‘vinyl’s coming back’ (laughs) I dug out my old turntable a while ago, and it was very expensive back in the day. I put a record on and, yep, still got that crackly thing going on!”
I was wondering if you have seen any of the classically trained vocal coaches on YouTube who spend a lot of time analysing one performance of yours, the Tokyo concert from 1984, and specifically, the song Take Hold of the Flame?
“I’ve not seen any of them, but someone has mentioned them to me. Is it a good laugh or what?
Ha ha, on the contrary, the coaches are in awe of your voice. I think they are of the opinion that heavy metal is just noise. They certainly change their opinion after watching the video!
“Oh wow, I’ll have to check that out! Sounds interesting.”
On behalf of RPM Online, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today, I’m looking forward to tonight’s show and I hope the rest of the tour goes well.
“My pleasure, me too, so far so good. And on days like this, it doesn’t get any better”.
Author: Kenny Kendrick
Written and recorded while the world was still in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, this new studio album sees the band just keep rolling and making music for the 21st Century as they did on “The Devil You Know” and “The Missing Peace” even if this has some softer lighter edges in the shape of the whistful ‘Get Along’.
Sure their classic rock influences are still in the mix. The heavier songs are present and correct but thats the beauty of an L.A. Guns album you kinda know what you’re going to get but there are subtle surprises within that keep the listener on their toes.
When fans absorb the album as a whole, they’ll see that the tracklisting is divided up into ‘sets’ or ‘suites’, where a sonic style is explored across multiple songs before moving on to the next, making for a longer-lasting listening experience that has certainly kept fans coming back for more (as well as the obvious talents within the line up).
I’ve always been a big fan of Lewis from when he was fronting Girl through Torme and as a solo artist he’s lost none of his talents over the years.
The album kicks off in style with the dirty rock of ‘Canonball’ that harks back to the real spirit of the band and when they first came to the fore. The attack of the two guitars and Lewis’ voice is excellent. then to follow it up with the groove-based boogie of ‘Bad Luck Charm’ then ‘Living Right Now’ that has attitude as well as grooving on a ‘Born To BE Wild’ opening riff its three songs in the intro and three styles that blend really well before the acoustic change of pace that is ‘Get Along’.
Going back to the ‘Sets’ where the album is divided into this laid-back, reflective acoustic section has the excellent ‘If It’s Over Now’ that has a great classic melody going on and Lewis vocals soar before gently getting back into the verse where its more softly spoken. The solo you know is coming and I got the impression of a Randy Rhodes style Ozzy feel and it hits the spot.
There is a solid more gang-like feel to this album and one the band seems altogether more comfortable with. There isn’t any need to just pummel the listener (even though they do at times) they seem more comfortable experimenting and taking different paths with the arrangments and that always makes for a better listen.
Halfway through the album, there’s plenty of grunt on ‘Better Than You’ before the boys get the feet up on the monitors for a DC like stomper in the shape of ‘Knock Me Down’. ‘Dog’ sees Tracii lead the way with a ballsy rocker.
As we head into the home straight the band shift through the gears with the slow-building ‘Let You Down’ that might just be the highlight of the whole album reminding me of the band’s darker classic ‘Hollywood Vampire’. Closing off proceedings with the sludgy, big, let’s get the fuck outta dodge grinding rhythm of ‘Physical Itch’ that closes off another long-player from a band that should rightfully get the respect of its peers for being not survivors but pioneers – a band who kept fighting against the odds and doing it on their own terms and a band that is maturing like a fine wine. Not going through the motions but a band that is going through the emotions – lifting you up and putting you down and if you turn up the speakers they’ll still throw you about. Long may this incarnation of L.A. Guns continue because they have the chops and are still very much capable of cutting the mustard and making really really good albums.
Buy ‘Checkered Past’ Here
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Swedens Chuck Norris Experiment are back in circulation and armed with an album that’s busying the moves of a band that have been in hibernation for far too long and have a tonne of pent-up aggression that they need to expel or else.
Kicking off with ‘Dirtshot’ it seems at least they have been able to vent in a positive manner. Beginning with electric guitars being Rinsed of every ounce of Distortion possible the cowbell rings out as Chuck enters the fray and the Rock begins. With a driving solid rhythm, CNE have found the sweet spot of Action Rock and going to detonate as they see fit.
It’s a confident opener that gets faster and is played harder on ‘Landslide’. The handicaps are like an exclamation mark as the band stretch their legs and riff and roll with the
best of em. As ‘Landslide’ collides with the rapid ‘Kill The Night’ that struts its stuff right out of the speakers and into your ear like the best earworms.
There’s a change of pace as the menacing ‘In For The Kill’ builds slowly into a wall of guitars with some subtle Stooges piano tinkling for good measure.
One of the band’s finest tunes is punched out as ‘Turning Me Inside Out’ is slammed out of the speakers with real fire inside and attitude aplenty.
With twelve offerings to the Hard Rocking mofo Community, there is plenty of grunt on show as this hotrod opens up on ‘Benefit Of Doubt’ and of course, ‘Hand Grenade’ goes off. In a time when people are pulled up for over masculine gestures, there is still plenty of sweat and testosterone flowing through this album and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
The title track is the beneficiary of some cool backing vocals and arrangements from the floor tom thumping to the grunt on that bass. Great tune and a real highlight. ‘Spin It Right’ kicks off like the Dictators on ‘Who Will Save Rock and Roll’ and on the evidence of this album it would seem that Chuck Norris Experiment will be in the front leading the charge. Rock or step aside and these guys are indeed kissing the viper without a care for their safety.
There’s time yet for some slow grinding blues at the ‘Devils Lake’ but wait that’s a cock Rock rolling riff on ‘Bad Blood’. It seems that there is no stone unturned on ‘This Will Leave A Mark’ and the band leave the building with a post-apocalyptic ‘New Day Rising’ with its gentle chord roll out and softly sung vocals.
CNE has once again nailed this Hard Rockin lark and made it look easy but be careful kids these gents are professionals and have been at this game for a long time and that experience shows this will indeed leave a mark as it exits your head.
As the world emerges from the past nightmare 18 months it’s great to hear some things can carry on if not get better and stronger and that can be said of this album and these players.
Buy Here
Authir: Dom Daley
Make No Mistake I’ve got a lot of time for London Rockers Neon Animal and their first album had moments where they showed confidence and played like they had it going on and they could certainly be the next big thing and wouldn’t just be one of those bands where only a few remembered the name let alone any of their songs.
Album number two is here and ‘Make No Mistake’ is something of a giant leap for me and that hype and confidence might just be about to be realised and they now have the songs to go with the look and they are talking the talk and walking the walk.
There’s more to this record than being posers who site influences from the downright cool to the downright premier league of recording artists. It’s not a record of garagy punk rock there’s more going on here and the new Neon Animal is certainly a different beast this time around. It might well be heavier, dirtier, broader than the debut and throughout the albums nine new tracks its a more confident more expansive record that explores the time-honoured subject matter of sex, the drugs and the rock ’n’ roll. Sure it’s decadent but it’s quality.
Opening with a really strong track in the shape of ‘Rock and Roll War’ its a statement of intent and has the energy to make you sit up and listen. That heavier tag is evident on ‘Let’s Make The World Rock’ with its simple chorus and biting riff its the breakdown and into that thumping bass riff and solo that lifts this into something quite exciting and Rock and Roll needs that. Sure its got some garage Rock and Roll going on but it’s mixed with a punk rock bass and hard-rocking riff and it blends really well. There a polished edge to this record but its also rolling on a dirty stage floor and a great example of that is ‘Rock and Roll Suicide’ it’s restrained and is a really well-written song. Sure it’s not reinventing the wheel or anything but so what that’s for others because Neon Animal are about the here and now and we need some bands to just kick out the jams and ‘Rock and Roll Suicide’ is a real highlight, something you should be hearing on the radio in the middle of the day if there was any justice.
The band get their groove on with a straight-up groove rocker with ‘I Can Tell You Love Me’ man they make me blush it’s like overhearing a dirty conversation between two lusty teens and the mix of sleazy funk and rock is infectious, You won’t be hearing this on any radio station I know that!
The band introduce some big acoustic guitars for the sunshine of ‘Hello L.A’ a top-down get the beers in the fridge kinda Bowie influenced number. Something quite different from the rest of the louder songs but a very nice sidestep into something altogether more ’70s glam and who isn’t down with that?
The album closes with the dark ‘Broken Mirror’ it’s like a Soho late-night mini-opera from a bygone era as it twists and turns another quite different sidestep that is excellent and adds another flavour to this record that is growing and growing the more I play it. Had it been all riff-ola crash bang wallop then it would have been missing that x-factor but the gear shifts and twists and turns elevate this to something quite special. Neon Animal might just have arrived and have the tunes to mess with the big boys and throw a big sleazy-glam-garage-rock ripple in the stale pool of Rock and Roll ‘Make No Mistake’ is one hell of a statement piece and I give it my full support. Get on it kids this is most excellent.
Buy ‘Make No Mistake’ Here
Author: Dom Daley
New York rock ‘n’ rollers The Shrieks are led by Italian/Venezuelan shrieker Luis Accorsi. After treading the beer & sweat drenched boards of CBGB’S fronting he likes of Manslaughter and Cracked Latin, Luis teamed up with producer Raphael Sepulveda to channel big guitars and even bigger choruses in The Flux Machine. Their masterful ‘Louder’ album came out in 2016 and is well worth checking out if you dig arena rock from the likes of Velvet Revolver and My Chemical Romance.
Fast forward a few years and The Flux Machine have evolved into The Shrieks, and following last year’s ‘Toxygen’ album, Accorsi returns with a new bunch of cool cats and some even cooler tunes to digest.
Opener ‘ T.Rex’ carries a ramshackle sound straight from the heart of Johnny Thunders. From the retro guitar riff that sounds like a car horn, to the junkie-like vocal drawl, it exudes the sounds of the streets (or should I say the gutters) of 70’s New York City.
Yeah, you could say The Shrieks shake it loose with the best of ‘em! It’s Lo-fi garage rock to the max on the likes of ‘Love Or Lust’ and the ultra cool and funky ‘Give Love’, where Luis channels Iggy to a soundtrack of soulful backing vocals and Hammond organ runs. Yeah, this is quality stuff.
The edgy title track is ‘Ballad Of Dwight Fry’s funky, punky older brother. A full on Alice meets Iggy run through that lyrically deals with mental health issues. A posthumous tribute to his friend Joe, who worked as a caregiver in a hospital. The singer takes on the roll of doctor, reeling off a list of drug dosing instructions for some hapless patient, over Strokes-like guitar stabs before breaking into a wah-wah infused jam out. Its dark, its quirky and its damn fine too.
‘Notre Dame Is Burning’ takes things down with acoustic countrified vibes and spoken word, poetic vocalisin’. Just lay back and chillax, as the singer takes us on a heady, tripped-out ride to question life, death and everything. As it builds, the vocal harmonies transport us into Pink Floyd territories. Spoken word seems to be a bit of a thang for our man Luis, as it pops up at various places to great effect.
The Shrieks mix it up nicely veering between retro, garage rock, bluesy jams and laid back, countrified sentiment. At all times sounding like the soundtrack to a Starsky & Hutch episode.
The funky ‘Collision’ with its scratchy, wah-wah guitars and pumping NY groove, is a cool tune for sure. Elsewhere, the mournful guitars and tinkling of the ivories add depth to the almost jammed out, countrified ballad that is ‘Let Me Go’. Country style slide guitar and soul sister backing vocals take the more upbeat rock ‘n’ roller ‘Lie To Me’ further into Rolling Stones territory.
Closer ‘Legs’ is a classic rock blues jam of the highest order. Coming on like a young Steven Tyler shrieking over a bad ass Sabbath riff, Luis delivers his most schizophrenic vocal performance as he descends, seemingly into madness for the duration of the song.
The Shrieks deliver a solid rock ‘n’ roll record that harks back to a different time. Eclectic and diverse in its own way ‘Ode To Joe’ soaks up 70’s rock nostalgia to great effect. A heady melting pot of what made The New York Dolls, Lou Reed, The Stones and Iggy so damn exciting, and why they still remain a great influence on great rock ‘n’ roll bands today.
Author: Ben Hughes
Airbourne will release their fifth studio album Boneshaker on October 25th via Spinefarm Records. The band revealed the cover artwork for BONESHAKER, which was a collaboration between Matt Read of Combustion Ltd, and Sean Tidy of Design House Studio Ltd.
On the topic of the artwork, guitarist Matthew Harrison states: “The whole sentiment we were after was about rock n’ roll for life. We wanted to create something tattoo worthy, and that the artwork was classic and stood the test of time.”
With the creation of Boneshaker, all-action Aussie rockers Airbourne decided to take the bolder path; to align with Nashville’s Number One producer, Dave Cobb, whose credits include both Chris Stapleton and the ‘Star Is Born’ soundtrack, as a way of staking out new turf away from comfort zones and safe havens…
“It’s a live gig in the studio. This is always something we wanted to do – find a way to bring the soul and power of an Airbourne live show into an album. Cobb caught our lightning and put it in a bottle.” states bandleader Joel O’Keeffe.
Relocating to historic Studio A on Nashville’s Music Row, six-time Grammy Award-winning producer Cobb’s natural home and one of Music City’s most prized creative hubs, the four musicians set themselves a challenge: to make a record cut from the same frayed cloth as those classic late-’70s recordings from Australia’s legendary Albert’s house of ‘Oz Rock’ that inspired the band so much.
There are no weird tangents here, no un-called for asides, no messin’ about. This is straight-down-the-line pure rock ‘n’ roll drama smelling of burnt rubber, spilt gasoline and valves glowing red hot. No ballads, no acoustic guitars, no keyboards. 10 tracks, 30 minutes of music. Everything lean an’ lethal, stripped to the bone, to those essential elements that rock ‘n’ roll requires to properly do its work: raging guitars, pounding bass ‘n’ bass, vocals packed full of real personality – the kind of passion that only comes from willfully pursuing a life on the line.
Pre-orders for Airbourne’s fifth studio album Boneshaker are now live, with an instant download of the first single & album title-track and special bundle options including t-shirts, hoodies, enamel badge and poster. Boneshaker was premiered live at Wacken 2019 in front of 80k+ people, their fourth time at the legendary festival, which felt like a homecoming for the band. Order your copy HERE.
As always, you can find Airbourne on the road. They will be crisscrossing the planet, in true Airbourne fashion until 2022.
“We are pumped about playing these new songs live, it’s always cool to do that first tour on the album cycle, especially that first run of shows. The first time you hear people singing the words back at you to a new song, it makes us really appreciate how much our Airbourne family around the world supports us. “ states drummer, Ryan O’Keeffe. “2020 is already shaping up to be a jam packed year.”
Airbourne Live Dates 2019:
23.08 – Reload Festival – DE
24.08 – Le Cabaret Vert – FR
24.09 – Ucho – Gdynia PL
25.09 – Proxima – Warsaw PL
26.09 – Kwadrat – Kraków PL
28.09 – Club Zal – St Petersburg RU
29.09 – Station Hall – Moscow RU
02.10 – Roxy – Prague CZ [SOLD OUT]
04.10 – Amager Bio – Copenhagen DK [SOLD OUT]
05.10 – Münchenbryggeriet – Stockholm SE
07.10 – Pakkahuone – Tampere FI
08.10 – Circus – Helsinki FI
10.10 – Rockefeller – Oslo NO
11.10 – Trädgår’n – Gothenburg SE [SOLD OUT]
12.10 – Voxhall – Aarhus DK [SOLD OUT]
15.10 – Melkweg – Amsterdam NL
16.10 – Trix – Antwerp BE
17.10 – La Laiterie – Strasbourg FR [SOLD OUT]
19.10 – La Cigale – Paris FR [SOLD OUT]
20.10 – La Cigale – Paris FR [SOLD OUT]
22.10 – Santana 27 – Bilbao ES
24.10 – Paris 15 – Málaga ES
25.10 – La Riviera – Madrid ES
26.10 – Razzmatazz – Barcelona ES
28.10 – La Paloma – Nimes FR [SOLD OUT]
29.10 – Alcatraz – Milan IT
31.10 – Komplex – Zurich CH
01.11 – Haus Auensee – Leipzig DE
02.11 – Orpheum – Graz AT
03.11 – Tonhalle – Munich DE [SOLD OUT]
05.11 – Barba Negra – Budapest HU
06.11 – Arena – Vienna AT
07.11 – Columbiahalle – Berlin DE
09.11 – Schlachthof – Wiesbaden DE [SOLD OUT]
10.11 – E-Werk – Cologne DE [SOLD OUT]
13.11 – UEA – Norwich UK
14.11 – Rock City – Nottingham UK
16.11 – Academy – Manchester UK
17.11 – O2 Academy – Newcastle UK
18.11 – Beach Ballroom – Aberdeen UK
20.11 – Ironworks – Inverness UK
21.11 – Barrowlands – Glasgow UK
22.11 – O2 Academy – Liverpool UK
24.11 – Cardiff University – Cardiff UK
25.11 – O2 Academy – Bristol UK
26.11 – O2 Forum – London UK
28.11 – O2 Academy – Sheffield UK
29.11 – O2 Guildhall – Southampton UK
30.11 – O2 Academy – Oxford UK
2020:
04.01 – Summernats – Canberra AU
08.02 – RAC Arena – Perth AU*
11.02 – AEC Theatre – Adelaide AU*
14.02 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne AU*
15.02 – Qudos Bank Arena – Sydney AU*
18.02 – Entertainment Centre – Brisbane AU*
20.02 – The Trusts Arena – Auckland NZ*
22.02 – Horncastle Arena – Christchurch NZ*
* Denotes Special Guest on Alice Cooper dates
For 2020 and beyond – watch this space…
Being together as a band for almost 40 years now – I guess it’s safe to say that D-A-D would have to be very comfortable in their own skins to have survived quite so long.
It’s hardly surprising then that ‘A Prayer For The Loud’ the band’s first new studio record in eight years is grounded in this ethos, the band having graduated from their humble Disneyland After Dark cow-punk beginnings into major label arena rock contenders who then, through their own hard work and helpyourselfishness, managed to survive the onset of grunge when most hard rockers perished through to eventually becoming the band they are today and have been since the release of ‘Everything Glows’ back in 2000. An album which coincidently not only saw the band change their name to D-A-D but also saw the band’s newest member Laust Sonne join the core trio of the band (singer/guitarist Jesper Binzer, bassist Stig Pedersen and guitarist Jacob Binzer) behind the drum kit.
So, what does almost two decades of being (this version of) D-A-D actually sound like?
Well, remember those days when new albums by the likes of Aerosmith and AC/DC used to leave you thrilled and wanting more? That’s instantly how I felt about ‘A Prayer For The Loud’, as both those hard rock giants sprung to mind during the first couple of spins, but of course this is always going to be a D-A-D record what with the instantly recognisable rich and raspy vocal tones of Jesper Binzer ever present and ready to strike.
Of the eleven new cuts on offer here at least nine of them are total bangers, pure four to the floor rock n roll music, with even glimpses of the mighty Gluecifer and The Cult (circa ‘Electric’/’Sonic Temple’) creeping into the mix during the simply immense ‘The Real Me’.
The album itself gets off to a blazing start with ‘Burning Star’ and the throbbing ‘A Prayer For The Loud’ and I challenge anyone to listen to either of these tracks and not draw an immediate arc back to the band’s commercial peak (here in the UK) of ‘No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims’ and ‘Riskin’ It All’, two albums that any connoisseur of quality guitar-driven rock music will have had in their collections for decades now.
Elsewhere with ‘Musical Chairs’ which crops up just past the halfway mark, the guys have written the song Airbourne have been searching for since they floundered for a sound to take them to the next level, whilst ‘Nothing Ever Changes’ and ‘The Sky Is Made Of Blues’ are the perfect soundtrack for top-down summer driving.
Of the two slower moments on ‘A Prayer For The Loud’ album closer ‘If The World Just’ is my preferred choice over ‘A Drug For The Heart’ purely because the latter sails a little too close to a certain Backyard Babies track for its own good, albeit with Jesper at the mic this is much more Aerosmith than Social Distortion ballad territory.
Kudos must also be given here to the production team of Nick Foss and Rune Nissen Petersen who have taken heavy hitters like ‘No Doubt About It’, ‘Time Is A Train’ and ‘Happy Days In Hell’ and given then an enormous sound that instantly fills your head with rock ‘n’ roll melodies that will live with you for days, no make that years, to come.
I’m not entirely sure why I’m so surprised by how amazing ‘A Prayer For The Loud’ is because D-A-D have always produced quality albums, it’s just this one is right up there with their very best work and is as a said at the beginning of this review the sound of a band very comfortable in their own skins.
Hands down this is the best classic/traditional (label it what you will) album I’ve heard in 2019.
BUY IT!!!!
Author: Johnny Hayward
Buy ‘A Prayer For The Loud’ Here
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