{"id":28374,"date":"2026-04-29T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=28374"},"modified":"2026-04-27T19:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:12:35","slug":"cj-wildheart-devil-self-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=28374","title":{"rendered":"CJ Wildheart \u2013 \u2018DEViL\u2019 (self release)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You could say ex-Wildhearts six-string shouter CJ is more prolific than main Wildhearts mouthpiece Ginger right now. Since stepping away from the band, CJ has kept himself busy and upped the ante with his own solo career. Recent tours with Michael Monroe and Ricky Warwick now lead to the release of his 8th<\/sup> solo album \u2018DEViL\u2019, an album that was apparently a true labour of love and could well be his musical swan song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CJ is a true DIY artist in every sense of the word. On \u2018DEViL\u2019 he has recorded and played all the instruments himself, bar drums, which are more than ably handled by long-time compadre Jason Bowld, and mixing duties are once again by go-to-guy Dave Draper. If it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead single \u2018One Of The Boys\u2019 is a great starting point. Lyrically, it’s introspective and tackles the doubts and questions of an uncertain future. Musically, it aims for the stadiums with a chorus so uplifting that the ensuing goosebumps will contradict the lyrical message. It’s up there with his best work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018DEViL\u2019 follows the blueprint of CJ\u2019s solo career to date, in-yer-face powerful punk \u2018n roll, dripping with memorable hooks and killer choruses, no slow songs and no acoustic guitars. Opener \u2018Nein Nein Nein\u2019 is a punchy assault to the senses, a wall of urgent beats and distorted guitars leads the way for gnarly vocals. The following, \u2018The Art Of Being Free\u2019, is a glorious and instant earworm with a euphoric refrain that is just what the doctor ordered. Mark my words, you\u2019ll be singing along from the opening chorus, and it\u2019s a song that demands the replay button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t hit that button just yet, as there is more great ear candy to devour. You could say some artists mellow with age, and some bellow with rage, CJ is firmly in the latter camp. He has perfected that vocal sneer over the years, and \u2018SOB\u2019 sees our man firing on all cylinders with a track that could be a Wildhearts B-side from 20 years ago (and we all know how good those are, right?). Elsewhere, the regimental rifforama of \u2018No More\u2019 bridges the gap between punk and metal nicely, leaving those pop melodies by the wayside, it\u2019s the perfect conduit for a punk vocal delivery. Yet it is bookended by \u2018Rotten\u2019 and \u2018Twenty Two\u2019, a pair of ridiculously catchy tunes that walk a familiar, catchy and more commercial path. Album closer \u2018Fade\u2019 then sees our man in an introspective mood again as he soul-searches one last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it becomes increasingly difficult for artists of all levels to tour and release music, you can forgive CJ for feeling it’s time to step away from the music business and move on to other things. And with the recent sad loss of former Wildhearts bassist Scott Sorry and Ginger\u2019s recent health diagnosis, it feels like we are coming to the end of an era for fans of all things Wildhearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t feel sad just yet, Wildhearts fans, as CJ has given us a winner with \u2018Devil\u2019, and if it is his musical swansong, then so be it, it\u2019s a fine way to bow out in style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, go pre-order the thing and maybe bag some Devilspit hot sauce for your bacon butty while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy Here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You could say ex-Wildhearts six-string shouter CJ is more prolific than main Wildhearts mouthpiece Ginger right now. Since stepping away from the band, CJ has kept himself busy and upped the ante with his own solo career. Recent tours with Michael Monroe and Ricky Warwick now lead to the release of his 8th solo album […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[726,2396,1787,1710,1681,1680,1833],"class_list":["post-28374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-ben-hughes","tag-cj-wildheart","tag-its-a-revolution","tag-rpm-online","tag-rpmnews1","tag-rpmonline","tag-tourlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28410,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374\/revisions\/28410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}