The word “supergroup” is thrown around a lot across the music industry when different forces of music team up together. Though half of the time I find that term laughable, I decided to give The Dead Daisies album a try to see if it's any good. The band consists of members of big bands that weren't properly recognised. Jon Stevens toured with INXS for a bit, Darryl Jones has done the same with The Rolling Stones, Richard Fortus and Dizzy Reed, both are with Guns N Roses, Charley Drayton was with the Divinyls and David Lowy was with bands like Red Phoenix. Their band history is superb, though I wouldn't see them as a supergroup I still think they need their time to shine.
The first
track on the album is called “It's Gonna Take Time”, it sounds like your
typical rock n roll song but it's got a nice feeling to it. Stevens' vocals
sound great, especially through the chorus, and the music is nice and simple
that has a great vibe, including the solo too. To me they already sound like a
Fozzy and Aerosmith mixed together, which is cool I suppose. The second track
on the album features Slash, another appearance from a member coming from the
Guns N Roses timeline. He co-wrote and performs on Lock N Load, which has
become a popular single in the US. The track reeks of Slash straight away, but
the song is nicely written. The verses play nicely whilst the guitar nicely
wails in-between them before the chorus, the backing vocals add a gospel feel
to it, especially when the keyboard / organ is heard. The chorus is ace, it
continues the nice and happy vibe the album has started to create, the solo
adds more to it, but it is Stevens’ vocals again making this song enjoyable as
well as the music.
“Washington”
is next, and it acoustically settles in with nice playing from Richard Fortus.
It's calm, but the happy vibe still maintains and the organ plays a smooth part
in giving the sound its depth. “Yeah Yeah Yeah” is quite weak, and Stevens
gives off David Lee Roth vibes. After the chorus has its second play the song
sounds good, though the solo isn't really anything special compared to previous
ones. This track would probably sound a lot better live, not really a fan of
this compared to the previous songs. “Yesterday” is the ‘hey up, here comes the
ballad’ moment on the album; however this nice acoustic blues is played very
well. The track is one of my current favourites - very chilled with a great
sounding piano. It’s this piano and the little solos / backing harmonies that
make this track stand out from the others.
“Writing on the Wall” is another classic sounding track, keeping the great vibe this album
has packed in it. Keeping the acoustic and the keyboards with the simple, yet
pleasant drum beat, but the song nicely has a blues rock breakdown before it
smoothly continues its way through the album. “Miles In front of Me” reminds me
of the first song and the previous song mashed together, Stevens still on
brilliant form with his vocals powering through. “Bible Row” kicks in
straight away while the guitar riff, that's simple yet fast, and has a gospel
feel to it. The organ pretty much owns this song as much as the guitar does.
“Man Overboard”
is a slow track with the lyrics: “And I feel like a man overboard.”
Meanwhile, “Tomorrow” kicks arse with acoustic guitars and an excitable
Stevens’ vocal. It's a very short track, but it's another one of my favourites
from this album. Then there’s “Can't Fight This Feeling”, a title which
slightly worried me in case it was going to be a cover of the song with the
same name made by AOR band REO Speedwagon.
At this point,
the album is starting to feel a bit tedious with the sound, though that's
probably just me. “Can't Fight This Feeling” has a slow chorus, which is catchy
and goes along with the rest of the track. The last track goes off with a bang
- the intro sounded explosive before it went into its usual happy simple vibe.
The chorus isn't as fun as I expected to be, and the song “Tomorrow” could've
been a better way to end the album in my opinion. The track is still alright,
though it's definitely not the finishing note we all could've wanted. It’s the
same feeling as when you play Guitar Hero and you fuck up a long note near the
end of the song because you tried to use the whammy bar.
The album as a
whole keeps the blues rock consistency nice and well, with Stevens’ voice being
the highlight. Guitar solos are simple yet effective - simplicity can be a
creative thing if you use it properly, and this album does it quite swell. A
couple of tracks didn't live up to the rest of the album, but they still
maintain a good feel throughout. They aren't really the “supergroup” they're
bigged up to be (properly because I hate that term), even if they have played
with famous bands, but they are still solid and deserve to have their band go a
lot bigger.
~Matthew
Clewley
7.6