It’s not often that a lyric makes me laugh out loud, but when Leon Standford sings the lines “I was riding high on those Persian days, but I took a risk I would change my ways” on opening country number “Rocking Chair” I couldn’t help myself. This song is the story of Phil’s life, with acoustic guitars and slide, and that line is of course a reference to the band he formed in 1979, which also featured Jon Deverill who departed for Tygers of Pan Tang before Phil also jumped ship for Motörhead where he was guitarist for more than 30 years. After the sad demise of Lemmy he formed Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons with his boys Todd, Tyla and Dane by his side, and now he has returned with an album he has been thinking about for many years. “This is something I wanted to do many years before Motörhead finished”, he says. “I talked to Lemmy about it many times and he always encouraged me. It just never came about because we were touring so relentlessly. But I kept the odd idea and riff from way back and never abandoned the idea. Now I felt the time was right to do it.”

Someone who has been at the peak of the metal game for so many years makes a lot of friends, and here he used his little black book to bring together some mighty names indeed. I love the way Rob Halford really pulls in his horns for “Straight Up” and performs with none of the embellishments, or very high-pitched vocals one often expects from him. We even get Alice on “Swing It”, with the old master standing out a mile. I can imagine Lemmy looking up at Phil, tipping his bottle of JD to Lucifer, and saying “I knew he had this in him”. It is a solid collection of rock and metal, with great singers taking the opportunity to be involved with one of the most acclaimed guitarists in the scene. But the final number on the album is the most unexpected, as it sees Campbell in much more reflective style, and here he invited not a singer to be involved but Joe Satriani! There aren’t many guitarists who knew they can stand in the same room as someone like that, but Phil can.

This is a very varied album, not one for someone who expects Phil to come out all guns blazing. What it shows is exactly what he wanted it to do, namely that he still has a lot of music in him and a lot of playing still to do. This is an album I have enjoyed immensely, just don’t expect him to be hitting you with riffs like he has in the past.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/
https://www.philcampbell.net/