FollowSo if you thought Richie Sambora’s new album would be another ‘Stranger In This Town’ think again!
‘Aftermath Of The Lowdown’ is a whole world away from the Bon Jovi gunslinger’s bluesy debut album, but I guess a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. Back on track after his well publicised fall and subsequent rise from the rigours of alcoholism, ‘Aftermath’ is almost a life lesson, apology and health warning set to music.
‘Burn That Candle Down’ is a Hendrix-esque theme which appears to have been recorded on a £2.50 cassette recorder and features Richie’s trademark raw voice masked by a barrage of phaser/rotary effects. Despite these drawbacks the song is fairly rocking and does kick things off in an up tempo style.
‘Every Road Leads Home To You’ was released as a free download prior to the album release and is a much better offering for fans of his great vocal talent. The song itself is quite chart friendly but reeks of The Killers ‘When We Were Young’ (itself a good song) meaningful lyrics and a nice catchy chorus make this one of the strongest tracks of the cd.
‘Taking A Chance On The Wind’ is a straightforward blues song with a bit of slide guitar and that bar room feel. A hint of Hendrix’ ‘Hey Joe’ to the chord sequences gives it a classic feel.
‘Nowadays’ is another oddie. Richie has opted to distort his amazing voice with a strange muted, fuzzy effect which as far as I can see harms rather than enhances. That aside it’s another short, pop rock chart ditty.
‘Weathering The Storm’ is one of the recovery stories with great lyrics and a cool guitar solo. Only niggle is that he sings the verses with a strange accent which makes him sound like Bowie with a cold.
‘Sugar Daddy’ is yet another where you’ll go ‘this doesn’t sound like a Richie Sambora song’. A weird fuzz box led riff that sleazes it’s way through with great down-to-earth straightforwardness set of lyrics. Out of place yes, in your face, also yes but actually a really cool song.
‘I’ll always walk beside you’ is as close as you’re gonna get to a Bon Jovi ballad on this album, but with a feel of 90’s U2 about it, simple repetitive chords, meaningful words, a foot-tapper for sure.
My favourite on the album ‘Seven Years Gone’ is pure Richie. Acoustic guitar/piano ballad with power chord chorus, great vocal performance, wonderful lyrics reminding us all that time goes way too fast and we should cherish every day.
‘Learning How To Fly With A Broken Wing’. Almost meat loaf territory with the title length, but a good rocking song, recalling his low moments and throwing a positive solution in. Also has the best guitar moment of the album, not showy by any means, but classic Sambora.
‘You Can Only Get So High’ is a piano based ballad with some nice expressive guitar intervals, beautiful lyrics with no silly effects. The best vocal performance of the album, and a kind of explanation of his recent trials and tribulations delivered honestly and succinctly.
This would have been a perfect last song but instead we have the very strange ‘World’ popped on the end almost like an afterthought. It’s a bit of a hippy like John Lennon acoustic number in which Richie is singing an apology to the planet itself, “world, is it too late to say we’re sorry”? And so on. So besides apologising to his family and friends he finishes by apologising to the earth on behalf of all humans. Very gracious of him but totally unnecessary in my opinion.
I don’t think Richie set out to smash any boundaries with this album, in fact I’m sure it’s more of a personal achievement rather than anything else. Yes there are a few ‘Classic’ Sambora guitar breaks and yes his voice is still raw and pure in places, and yes, some of the songs on here will move you and may in time become memorable, but as a massive Richie fan I can’t help feeling a little disappointed with the weird vocal effects and the overly chart-friendliness of some of it. His solo works were always a step away from the singalong pop band that Bon Jovi became.
It’s always a great feeling of anticipation waiting for a release from one of your heroes and all time favourite acts and this is a little anti-climactic.
I am pleased that he has overcome his demons and I’ll still buy his cd’s, fingers crossed the next one will be amazing. 7/10
Brought to you by Paradise Rock’s Sir Craig of Aston