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Damage Control is a UK based band formed in 2006, consisting of veteran
drummer Chris Slade (Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Asia, AC/DC, The Firm,
Uriah Heep, + quite a few others), veteran bass player Pete Way (Ufo,
Waysted), English AOR musician Robin George and former Quireboys
vocalist Spike. They released their debut album in 2007, and since then
vocalist Spike has left the band, and they have decided to continue as a
trio with Way and George taking over vocals. "Raw" is basically a remake
of their self-titled debut album, with 10 tracks from that one and two
new compositions recorded with the band as a trio.
Musically we're talking blues influenced rock on this release. The album
kicks off with a trio of hard rock tunes with noticeable blues
influences, and then steadily evolves towards a more purified blues rock
style until the album ends with the gritty, slide guitar dominated tune
"Bitching Blues". People with more experience of the genre than me can
probably point to influences left and right here, personally I only
identified one; ZZ Top as they sounded in the early 70's. Not an all
tunes, but three tunes in particular would not have been out of place on
an album by Texas' finest; namely "Damage Control", "One Step Closer"
and the aforementioned "Bitching Blues".
The opening hard rock tunes do set this release apart from others in the
blues rock field to some extent, but more importantly the guitar sound
of Robin George; highly distorted and fuzzy, still slick, distinct and
very melodic, creates a trademark sound for this band. Slade is an
experienced drummer, and utilizes his skill and experience cleverly here
to create driving and interesting rhythms as the backbone for these
tunes, and Pete Way does a swell job here too.
The songs as such are a tad varied in quality as I hear them though.
Especially the more heavily blues influenced tracks to become a tad
anonymous. It takes great skill to make something sounding interesting
in a style that has been explored for so many years by so vast amounts
of artists, and although never bad these many tunes doesn't shine very
brightly either, with "Seven Golden Daffodils" and "Bitching Blues"
notable exceptions.
"Alice" is my top pick from this release though, a slick tune with nice
grooves and a very catchy chorus. Opening tune "Raw" and "Savage Song"
are other strong tunes worth checking out.
Fans of blues based hard rock and blues rock will probably love this
release, and I feel quite safe in recommending this release to fans of
these types of music.
Rating: 7,5 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
: : Visit the Artist’s
Website :
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: : Discography : :
Raw (2008)
Damage Control (2007) |
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