Kenny Stewart - The Brains Behind The Scam
'The Brains Behind The Scam' is the debut solo album of Dirty Tricks lead singer Kenny Stewart. As well as being a founder member of Dirty Tricks, Kenny has extensively toured as part of the Led Zeppelin tribute band 'Stairway To Zeppelin'. He managed to take enough time out to write, play, produce and mix the album. Kenny's approach is no nonsense rock; you know what you're going to get and he doesn't disappoint. He has been belting out the heavy rock since 1974 and still sounds as enthusiastic as ever.
The album opener 'Tears To A Glass Eye' bursts in with heavy riffing guitar and the unmistakable vocals of Kenny. There's some nice guitar work throughout as well as some tight drum and bass backing. The heavier layered guitar and driving drums on 'Secret Sign' are beginning to set the tone for the rest of the album; there are occasional quieter vocals, though still with the driving backing. There is a more classic rock feel to 'BBD' with more solid sounding drums pounding away.
'Kick Me' returns us to the heavier side with its deeply distorted guitar intro. At this point the energy is starting become relentless. The pattern continues with the next couple of tracks. The metal guitars give a more moody feel and there's a wider range of expression in the vocals on 'Down In The Boneyard'. This is then followed by the faster, rocking 'All Jazzed Up And Ready'.
Interlude: 'Crown Of Thorns' is much, much quieter and brings the mood, tempo and volume right down. A drifting melody and much gentler vocals are a welcome distraction from the continuous pounding that has gone before..
The volume is turned up to 11 again and the pounding rhythms return. The tracks come thick and fast. 'Broken Glass And Bullet Holes' is back to the rocking formula with distorted wah wah guitar riffs, 'The Great Divide' has some very effective dual or layered guitar in the intro and is slower but more intricate in the delivery of the backing and chunky, offset chords. There's also a nice lead guitar interlude. 'Misery Loves Company' is yet another heavy rock offering.
A gentler sounding guitar introduces us to 'Bullet (With Your Name On It)'. This builds up to a slower rolling rhythm which is a nice distraction. The heavy guitar and thundering drums return with 'Cradle To The Grave' and 'Hypnotized', the latter with relentless hard hitting chords forming the backbone and Kenny's vocals returning to the usual higher volume. There's also some nice phased effects throughout the track.
If you thought it couldn't get any heavier, you were very wrong. Along comes 'Break My Fall' with its driving guitars and singing lead guitar overlays and 'No Win Situation' with a slightly cleaner guitar sound on the intro and not quite as heavy rhythm backing. The album finale is 'Urban Cabaret'. Kenny throws everything at the listener here; a solid wall of sound inter-dispersed with changes in tempo, each time followed by the expected kitchen sink being hurled at you.
Doing everything (vocals, guitars and electronic trickery) himself, Kenny has produced a high volume rock album with, can I say it again?, relentless energy. I think that the tracks should have been a little more diverse and his songwriting showcased more as in the excellent track 'Crown Of Thorns'. That said, it's still a great album.