THE DEAD DAISIES – Light 'Em Up

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8.0

• Band:
  THE DEAD DAISIES
• Duration: 00:36:40
• Available from: 06/09/2024
• Label:

• SPV Records

Streaming not yet available

With a lineup perennially full of aces, characters who have made the history of rock, yesterday and today, The Dead Daisies always manage to find a way to bring out something interesting. They play it safe, true, they don't move much from a sparkling, charged and pressing hard rock, suspended between tradition – for instrumental approach and melodic veins – and modernity – especially the sounds – and they are careful not to take any kind of risk or contamination. What they do, however, is always of an excellent level and they remain a certainty for those who simply want a bit of fresh, fun and wild rock'n'roll.
After two albums featuring Glenn Hughes on vocals, intensifying the blues and soul nuances of our guys, John Corabi, who was already a permanent member of the band between 2015 and 2019, reappears behind the microphone. With him, bassist Michael Devin, formerly in Whitesnake, also joins the band, for a line-up completed by band leader Doug Aldrich and David Lowy on guitars and Tommy Clufetos on drums, which is certainly reliable.
Just when it seemed that a hint of routine had entered the circulation, with the still pleasant “Radiance”, not as effective as other releases of the group but still more than decent, here is “Light 'Em Up” bringing the five's ratings back up, in the name of an even more old-school style than usual, essential and that goes to the roots of rock'n'roll. The Dead Daisies had so far distinguished themselves for beautiful dense productions and a thunderous impact, noting themselves for a firepower superior to that usually displayed by a hard rock group. In this case they prefer to take something away, in the distortion as in the executive fury, focusing on fun, a more carefree and light riffing, which integrates well with a dirty and scratchy Corabi in his vocal lines, an interpreter still today of charisma and flexible enough to give color and strength to all the compositions in the tracklist.
The feeling is oriented towards an AC/DC dimension: simple and punchy rhythms, absolutely irresistible in their simplicity; totally vintage guitars and turns to a purely party rock'n'roll, stained with blues, with no other pretension than to move people and let go to carefree fun. The opening trio in this sense is exemplary, between the title-track, “Times Are Changing” and the lascivious “I Wanna Be Your Bitch” to raise the adrenaline with a contagious rhythmic gait, an agitated Corabi and a linearity of action that enhances all the peculiarities of the band.
Starting from “I'm Gonna Ride” the tone begins to vary a little, while remaining in a very clear context. Here we are almost in the area of ​​the eighties DAD, by virtue of a nostalgic melody with a western aftertaste as only the Danes knew – and know – how to give birth to. Even in the second part of the album the atmospheres remain very light and blissful, a dive into the frivolous and carefree '80s, relived through pieces that ultimately do not have much special to offer, nothing so new or sensational, and yet they work very well, adhering to a formula of broad-ranging, frank and sincere hard rock that is always a pleasure to listen to.
In any case, the finishing touches on the arrangements are good, as are the second voices when called upon (“Way Back Home”, for example), as are the excellent enrichments in the solos and the bass work of the newcomer Michael Devin on bass – the highlight of his performance is the earth-shaking bass line of “Take A Long Line”, even if it is his work throughout the entire album that stands out.
“Light 'Em Up” is something unexpected in some ways: as much as The Dead Daisies have done great things in a discography that spans more than a decade, we did not expect this type of album, one of the best among those they have published and of the 2024 vintage in the name of rock'n'roll. Paraphrasing the closing track, they have really 'captured our soul'.