Apparently, the idea for this album started to germinate when bassist Bob Madsen wondered what it would sound like if you crossed Disturbed with Level 42 bass with a Sammy Hagar-style singer over the top of it. To help him achieve his aim he brought in guitarists Chad Quist (41POINT9, Heart by Heart etc) and Billy Connolly (Pushing the Sun, Alchemy of Sound), Randy Scoles (Ronnie Montrose Band, Rogue) on vocals and Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth Band, Ringo Star’s Allstars) on drums. The end result is something quite incredible, as this is one of the most interesting, consistent and exciting melodic hard rock albums I have heard in some time, not what I really what I expected from the band name, but bang on from what I expected from understanding the concept.
There is one major issue with the album, which I need to put out there at the beginning, in that it is just too bloody short!! Here we have just 30 minutes of material, seven songs, but I want more, much more! The twin guitars crunch away, but also understand when to not play at all, Bissonette pounds the drums like a demon while Madsen is putting in loads of bass tricks, sounds and chords which simply do not belong in this environment, and at the front they have a singer who has a breathy edge and can hit all the notes with ease, bringing in a Hagar/Faces-era Stewart sound. The orchestral beginning of the title track, where Scoles sings in a cleaner and gentler style, allows one to understand there is more to come, but when the band come in it is just so clean and dynamic. This then builds again, and the feeling is the band are waiting for the chorus, and they indeed are as with a keyboard over the top, which is classic The Cars, this is a song made for radio and anthemlike concerts. Ah, and there is the problem. This is a great album/mini-album/extended EP, but how many people will see the name and shy away? Lemmy was famously quoted as wanting to call his band Bastards after leaving Hawkwind but was told he would never get the publicity or radio play so changed the name. I do have concerns this music will be passed by due to the name of the band, which would be awful, as listening to Bob riffing chords on “Angel’s Envy”, with Scoles doing his best Paul Rodgers impression and lush female backing vocals, I kept thinking how they have taken classic Seventies melodic rock and brought it up to date and then thrown in jazz bass!
Rating: 9/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Gentleman-Bastards-270124613877042/
https://www.thehighlanderco.com/
