Эта новость достаточно приятна, потому что сольник выпускает замечательный музыкант, порадовавший нас своим предыдущим релизом. Подробности позднее. В записи альбома принял участие Джо Бонамасса.
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Ревью от Джона Такера
Although I picked up on the cricketing reference in the title of Don Airey’s latest solo album, ‘All Out’ apparently has three meanings, according to the keyboard maestro’s biography. "The first is a cricketing one, namely the awful feeling you get when your team’s innings comes to an end and you’re all out; the second to the sound you get from a Hammond organ when you pull all the drawbars out, driving the Leslie speakers flat out; the third the general philosophy of how the songs were recorded – full on, all out!”
It’s the cricketing reference that’s the most apparent though, not only through the instrumental ‘Right Arm Overture’ but also because the album is, I’m afraid to say, rather dull. Never a keyboard player to wear a flashy cape, throw his Hammond around or stick knives between the keys, Airey is more David Gower than Ian Botham: very nice, highly professional but just not very exciting nor particularly flashy. As such, there are no sixes here: ‘All Out’ is an album of mainly singles with just the occasional four.
The album’s ten cuts are made up of an over’s worth of songs once again delivered by ex-Persian Risk singer Carl Sentence, and four instrumentals, with guest guitarists Bernie Marsden, Joe Bonamassa and Airey’s bro Keith aiding and abetting the band of Rob Harris of Jamiroquai (guitar), renowned session player Laurence Cottle (bass) and Darrin Mooney of Primal Scream (drums).
Of the instrumentals, ‘Estancia’ is the first movement of Alberto Ginastera’s 1941 ballet (Ginastera’s work was popularised by Emerson Lake and Palmer via ‘Toccata’ on ‘Brain Salad Surgery’), and is an exciting little romp which allows Airey to stretch out and have some fun with his organ. Unfortunately, the laid-back guitar-driven ‘B’Cos’, the aforementioned jazz-fusion ‘Right Arm Overture’ and the bluesy ‘Long Road’ don’t really summon up the same degree of excitement.
On the vocal side of things, album opener ‘The Way I Feel Inside’ has some latter-day Purple passion running through its verse (as well as Mr Marsden on guitar), and ‘People In Your Head’ (with Joe Bonamassa) could be an early throwaway Glenn Hughes B-side, redeemed only really by the guitar solos and Sentance’s vocal delivery. ‘Running From The Shadows’ is a commercial piece of uninteresting AOR fluff, the cover of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Fire’ manages to turn an incendiary into a sparkler, and ‘Wrath Of Thor’ is almost a slice of Seventies’ heavy rock, reminiscent in some ways of Ritchie Blackmore’s riff-driven workouts; the time-change and keyboard solo make things a bit more interesting, but the over-emphasis on the singer’s whopping and hollering detract for the song’s atmosphere and do it no favours at all.
‘All Out’’s set piece is album closer ‘Tobruk’, a five-part mini-rock-opera which starts off with the greatest of intentions but which ten minutes later runs out of steam having failed to live up to its grandiose expectations; its highlights are overwhelmed by its disjointed and unwieldy structure – too heavy on the opera and too light on the rock – and some less than ‘A’-Level lyrics.
A bit like watching a five-day Test dragging its way to an inevitable draw, ‘All Out’’s flashes of brilliance are eclipsed by an overall lack of focus and exhilaration. Too many wides, not enough boundaries…
A list of all the albums and bands that keyboard wizard Don Airey has cast his spell over would probably fill this entire review, however anyone who has spent time recording or performing with Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, UFO, Gary Moore and of course his current residence Deep Purple is obviously a musician of the highest calibre and deserving of the utmost respect.
It may be six long years since the last Deep Purple studio effort, however Don last released a solo disc in 2008, with 'Light In The Sky' being an album which allowed him to demonstrate his undoubted keyboard prowess, while still delivering some tasty prog tinged classic rock. Picking from where that disc left off 'All Out' continues in the same bombastic style, with four keyboard and Hammond heavy instrumentals working seamlessly alongside six vocal tracks. Providing the voice on those songs is Carl Sentance, who previously sang with Krokus, Persian Risk and The Geezer Butler Band and who actually sounds remarkably similar to the singer in Don's main musical outlet, Ian Gillan and that in its self should let you know that Sentence is a charismatic and powerful vocalist who adds hugely to the album. Making up the rest of the band are guitarist Rob Harris (Jamiroquai), drummer Darrin Mooney (Primal Scream) and respected jazz bassist Laurence Cottle. However not content with piecing together a tight and impressive band, Airey has also enlisted the help of guitarists Joe Bonamassa, Bernie Marsden and his brother Keith Airey, who all show up at various points throughout the album.
For someone who has covered such a variety of acts, Airey concentrates on a sound not so far removed from Deep Purple, although early Uriah Heep and Emerson Lake and Palmer are also brought to mind. That said, if you know what works, why steer too far from that course? As expected Airey takes centre stage for the majority of the songs and especially on the instrumentals, with the likes of 'Estancia' really just being a glorious excuse for him to squeeze every last note out of his keyboards with flurries blurring past at an amazing rate of knots. One time Whitesnake man Marsden adds his bluesy tones to 'The Way I Feel Inside' and 'Running From The Shadows', where he and Airey combine to great effect, even if the keyboards do steal the show in the latter song with a gloriously melodic and restrained solo. Bonamassa on the other hand leaves no doubt who is playing the licks on 'People In Your Head', as he makes his six string sing with style and grace. Other standouts come in the shape of the beautifully paced slower number 'Long Road' where Keith Airey shines brightly trading soaring lead guitar with his brother's tasteful key's work and the epic closing number 'Tobruk', which once more sees Don at his most energetic best which is easily matched by the growling guitar of Harris and a stunning vocal performance from Sentance.
'All Out' is a classy beast where old school rock values are encouraged to flex their muscles without quite ever losing focus and for anyone into seventies rock is an album worth going 'All Out' for.
