I didn't hear the first of the Voices of Rock CD produced by Chris Lausmann (Bonfire, Jaded Heart) & Michael Voss (Mad Max, Casanova) when it came out, but the promotional material I have received with the sequel assures me that it was well received the last time around. I wouldn't be surprised – a slew of respected hard rock voices featured on albums by Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Accept, and TNT etc. plus two producers who seem to understand exactly what fans of classic hard rock want in an album should add up to some nice sales figures.
I'm always a little dubious about these kinds of album whether it be Voices of Rock or Roadrunner United – they always smack of what the producer thinks the genre they're tackling is epitomized by, and more importantly what the producer wants the fan to want. Sometimes it is a genuine labour of love, and sometimes its all about the money... but such is the music industry. So anyway, lets get ready to rock!
Kicking off the CD is ex-Black Sabbath larynx... no not Ozzy, or Dio, not even Gillain, but rather Tony Martin doing his best over an adequately toe tapping mix of Bad Company and Judas Priest on 'Into The Light' . Next up is Bert Heernik (ex-Vandenberg) on 'Shame on You' where he does his Rob Halford with lung reduction impression over a decent enough textbook riff that is only spoilt by that god awful keyboard sound from Van Halen's hit 'Jump'. Joe Lyn Turner (ex-Deep Purple & Rainbow) takes the reins on 'Tonight', which is a nice enough ballad that benefits from his confident voice but suffers from that damn keyboard sound once again. 'Rock Me' is a Def Leppard style chorus interspersed with a laid back acoustic verses that plays well to the strength of the voice of Paul Shortino (ex-Quiet Riot / Rough Cutt). Rob Rock (Driver, ARP, Impellitterati) gets a rather lacklustre power ballad in the form of 'Remember Me' that even Slash couldn't save from descending into a mediocre parody. Mitch Malloy assumes the duties for 'Lay You Down To Rest' - it's a good enough song but it never gets out of third gear, despite Malloy's lung capacity driving it. Tony Mills (TNT, Shy) lends his voice to a terrible early 90's upbeat sing-a-long that Brian Adams would be proud of... No thanks. David Recce (Ex Accept / Bangaloire Choir) gets a far more interesting bluegrass riff lead track that sounds like a great single in its own right – probably one of a few that come together properly on the album. 'Down the Drain' enlists Paul Sabu (Only Child) for a slice of Motley Crue style hard anthemic rock that continues the trend set by the previous track. The final track 'Only 4 Ever' stars Torben Schmidt (ex-Skagarack) for a rather wet and upbeat sing-a-long that never picks up... at least it doesn't' have that bloody keyboard sound on it though.
The record label have shot themselves in the foot leaving it until this time of the year to release it – this would make a bomb in the run up to Father's Day - because lets face it, this is rock for your dad, not you. I have no doubt this was a labour of love for the producers though it might seem like tough love to anyone that prefers Motorhead rather than Ratt.
http://www.myspace.com/voicesofrock
