Jake E Lee returns
It's been five years since the last solo album from ex-RATT, Ozzy Osbourne and Badlands guitarist Jake E Lee, so it's a little surprising that he's chosen to come back with an album of cover versions. As Ozzy Osbourne's songwriting partner (following the death of Randy Rhoades) Jake E Lee established himself as a fine tunesmith in his own right and it's a shame that he's chosen this vehicle to break his musical silence. Joined by some big names in the shape of drummer Aynsley Dunbar (Journey, Whitesnake, Zappa etc), bassist Tim Bogert (Cactus and Vanilla Fudge) and vocalist Chris Logan (Michael Schenker Group) this is an album of songs that originally inspired Lee to play the guitar. Included are covers of songs by bands such as 'Free', 'Grand Funk' and 'Johnny Winter' to name but a few but that should give you an idea of the music that's on offer here.
This is typical of blues/ hard rock albums, not least because it's an album of covers but also because it's released under the name of the guitarist. What this means is that more often than not you get the usual blues backing from the rhythm section with crazy guitar solos over the top. Admittedly, the guitar has a much rawer sound (making it sound far less self indulgent) than a Steve Vai or Jo Satriani record and this makes it more palatable but when all's said and done it's just another guitar led rock and blues record.
The vocals have that gravelly American blues sound you'd expect... think Blackfoot and you won't be far off. As you'd expect from the personnel playing on this album it's technically very good and a couple of the tracks are rather impressive. The best example of this is track five 'Guess I'll Go Away' but then that's probably because it was a good song in the first place! Towards the end it all starts to sound very similar, if you're a fan of hard edged blues/rock it's a more than worthy example, if you can take it or leave it then you're not likely to find anything here to win you over.