Style: hard rock, metal, prog
Year: 2021
Home: n/a
Members: Chas West ~ vocals
Craig Goldy ~ guitars/keyboards/bass
Vinny Appice ~ drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio ~ bass/keyboards
Resurrection Kings includes vocalist Chas West of Foreigner & Lynch Mob & the Jason Bonham Band, multi-instrumentalist Craig Goldy of Dio & Giuffria, bassist/keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio of Hardline & Jorn, & iconic drummer Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath, Dio, though he needs no introduction. Thus, supergroup is the name of the game here. This is their second release following their 2016 self-titled debut. The band started from Goldy & West doing some demos together. The power hitting label Frontiers liked what they heard & encouraged a formal line-up to be assembled. As I wrote that phrase I had Captain America calling for the Avengers to assemble, but it kinda feels like that. I'll confess that when this was shared with me this morning, while the line-up piqued my curiosity I have a lot of other stuff to listen to & blog about. Like I'm in the middle of reviewing all of Ace Frehley's solo albums & I'm a big Kiss fan. Its nearly sacrilegious to interrupt this journey through space. Then I saw this was released by Frontiers of Italy. Seriously, I believe anything they put out is worth a listen sooner than later, even if you're skeptical of what you're going to hear. Between that & the line-up, Ace will will have to float in space on his own for a bit. Sorry, Spaceman. I've reviewed Frontiers' albums before & heard so much by them that I truly believe they have more home runs than strike outs. I will review happily anything they have their name on, & I have never said that about any other label. I will be honest, they've had some releases that haven't done much for me, could have used a few less guitar fireworks & instead more memorable melodies, & were better ideas on paper. I'm not gloating & loving everything released by them by default, & readers of this blog know that I don't do that, even for musicians I adore. Yet, the production quality is always top, the artwork great, & I've never read any interview with a musician not thrilled to be working with them. As a bassist I know how important a good label is. For the record, I listened to tons of interviews when writing the history book "Drivin' Sideways: The History Of The Band Danger Danger", published 2019, on the '80's band Danger Danger & their spin-off the Defiants. Both are on Frontiers. This is not to mention that the label is by folks who really love music, truly, & have solid tastes not warped by trends & whose who parties in L.A.. They've given great comebacks to older bands who likely gave up on being on the charts again, & kept many musicians releasing albums when bigger labels catering to Millennials were not interested. They're like Metal Blade to heavy metal, Sub Pop to grunge, Verve to jazz. Given I know the woman, as in sat in her living room, who signed John Legend & the Black Eyed Peas & Billy Joel .... I've seen firsthand a CEO who puts money & trends first & hopes the music finds an audience. Frontiers knows music & have literally created a music revolution by having amazing product. The music came first & the audience appears, or if you build it they will come. Okay, okay, this is not a review of a label, but I've long wanted to give them a wave & it seemed like a great time. I'm also kinda hyping this album up without saying a word about it! So, sorry for the intrusion, back to Ace Frehley now ... sorry, I mean the Resurrection Kings! Given I've been listening to Ace's 1978 solo album on repeat, one thing that's ringing in my ears is music with personality & distinctive melodies. In the first minute of the Resurrection King's opening track, the title track, personality abounds! Electronic & acoustic drums, prominent keyboards, a moody proggy interplay of finger poppin' guitars & keys, double-tracked vocals ... this is really interesting. Emphasis on 'really.' Its also really great. I've probably listened to this opening track like six times today & its always a high energy proggy hard rock delight. I really like that its more than just a riff with a lead line & some ambiance & vocals laid over it. This feels more like a stew where everything is so intricate that if you take out one instrument the whole flavor collapses. My favorite part is when the rhythm guitar changes underneath the solo, then moving into something new as though the song has little chapters. It is subtle, cool & unpredictable. While after two guitar solos we also get a proggy keyboard solo to close the song out with ... totally breaking expectations right to the end. Its great to see keyboards given a stronger role in a band where they work with the guitar, as it makes this feel like something more than just a guitar focused band. Obviously, this is for folks who like their metal melodic & proggy, but shying on the safe side of proggy where its the influence without the style. Note, this raving is just the opening track! There's ten more & its a constant roll out of breaking expectations. Whitesnake has been used to describe the band. Moments of "Tears" might recall early '80's Whitesnake due to some melody quirks, along with the singing on "Troubled Soul" & "Fight Against Our Pride", yet I don't think that comparison does the band justice. This is not half as slick nor commercial. It also feels more coincidental than deliberate. Dio has also been mentioned. I can hear that on the rolling "World's On Fire" & slower "Angel Demons" & in West's powerful singing. But, its another weak comparison. West is a powerfully strong singer that fills up the air & lifts the music up with him, or I should say he's as dynamic as the music. When one thinks powerful singing Ronnie James Dio comes to mind. While two members played with Ronnie, again I think this is more coincidence than deliberate. The influences are worn on the sleeve here, but not deliberately imitated. Comparisons to other musicians is how we tell someone that if they like X then they'll like Y. As I enjoyed this album on repeated listens, including lip-syncing along, I've been trying to think who the Kings sounds like. I've got 700 reviews on this blog & more albums I've heard that I've not written about & I'm drawing a blank. They've taken their influences & put their own personality into it for something unique. Not unique as in odd, but unique as in golden, must hear, impossible to find something bad here unique. I rarely write this & usually criticize bands for ignoring their personality to sound like everyone else. I'm finally finding a band that is doing what I want & the music is screaming to me how my recommended approach is right. This is an album I want to keep listening to & get cozy with. This has personality like Ace's 1978 solo album has personality with not a bad track. Its big without being in your face guitar pyrotechnics. I love that. I'm also biased as a bassist. The songs have emotion, versus just relying on riff after riff. Though, when the guitar wails like in "Savior Of Souls" its just a delight. Each song is full of little touches, while never cluttering up things with a wall of sound. The vocals & music work together instead of separate pieces that are disconnected. While the lyrics are something other than sex, or at least they lace sex under some more interesting themes. After awhile it becomes had to describe music, as sounds are really so abstract & personal on some level. I feel like I've gone in circles & not hit the target, but you should have picked up I'm really excited by this release & think it is something you must hear. Frontiers' track record remains intact & the Kings have an album to be very proud of.
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