![]() ![]() It’s odd, considering that this is Lee’s big comeback, how many songs are entirely non-dependent on him. “Fall From The Sky” would be a decent ballad, ruined only by Smith’s overwrought vocals and complete lack of subtlety. Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander, of all people, delivers a solid performance on the catchy “Feeder.” “Redeem Me” is a Badlands-ish bluesy rocker, with excellent vocals by Sass Jordan (who I thought was a dude at first). On “Slave,” Lee breaks out one of the most aggressive riffs of his career - hearing him backed by pounding double kick drums was a surprise, to say the least. There are certainly some bright spots though. It’s times like this where he sounds like someone who’s been out of the loop for 20 years. A lot of the guitar tones and production effects are similarly obsolete, as though they’ve been kept on ice Walt Disney-style since 1998. Rob Zombie-esque touches of disco metal crop here and there, way past their due date and way out of Lee’s wheelhouse. Oh, and Rex Brown ( Pantera), Scott Reeder ( Kyuss) and members of Five Finger Death Punch also make appearances.Īs the album plays on, the songwriting becomes seriously misguided at times. If you’ve ever wondered what Paul Di’anno would sound like singing generic modern metal, the track “Wasted” has the answer. On “Big Mouth,” Maria Brink of In This Moment tries to be more irritating than either Smith or Di’anno, and succeeds. Perhaps aware that his singer is out of his league, Lee pulled a Santana and added guest vocalists on about half the album, with uneven results. Smith’s upper register is particularly grating, and his high notes on tracks like “Shout It Out” just sound ridiculous. To put it nicely, this dude sounds like a cross between Stephen Pearcy ( Ratt) and a chainsaw. But about 25 seconds in, my parade is pissed on by the band’s vocalist, D.J. I start to believe that this project has potential. Opener “Deceived” kicks off with exactly the kind of riff I want to hear from Jake and co., uptempo and melodic with that classic ’80s feel to it. Other than one solo album and the occasional guest spot, he’s had almost no recorded output in the last two decades…until now. But after the demise of his post- Ozzy band Badlands in the early ’90s, Lee has been keeping a low profile, to say the least. As you all know, Lee was the Ozzman’s guitarist during the mid-’80s, compelling countless teenagers to pick up the guitar and jam out to classics like “Secret Loser” and “Rock N’ Roll Rebel” in their bedrooms. Only one is mentioned in the same breath as legends like Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen only one has had first-born children named after him. Many guitarists have passed through the ranks of the Ozzy Osbourne band over the years, but only one has inspired whole generations of axemen.
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