I’ve always liked CINDERELLA since their first album “Night Songs”. Their videos were on TV rock shows in Europe, but I’ve never seen them until last year in the US at the Monsters Of Rock Cruise where I finally got to see them twice! Well, better make-up for all that time since they were not the easiest band to see in France in the 80s/90s!
The bluesy/STONES roots of the band always made them stand out to me, and their leader Tom Keifer now offers us a debut solo album in which he can focus more on these musical influences. Opening with hard-hitting song “Solid Ground”, it’s hard to think this could be a bad album! Slide guitars, gospel backing vocals, and catchy melodies always work well together. Songs like “It’s Not Enough”, “Cold Day In Hell” or “Mood Elevator” can only confirm this. Fans of powerful 70s groovy songs will love “Fool’s Paradise” and “Ain’t That a Bitch” while modern hard rock lovers will be seduced by “Welcome To My Mind”, and things get even more epic in “The Way Life Goes” and its early AEROSMITH groove and structure!
It’s not always easy to keep the average rock’n’roll listener’s attention when things get quieter with ballads, but here, songs like “Thick and Thin”, “The Flower Song”, “You Showed Me” (and it’s BEATLES feel) or “Ask Me Yesterday” never get boring or cheesy. Good point!
Tom knows that an album has to end on a great note, that’s why the Brown Sugar taste of “Babylon” and its wild saxophone solo won’t leave your mind. This is very good, but what else could you expect from the man? /Laurent C.
Veglam 