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Everybody who listened to hard rock in the 80's will know John Waite, others might just know Bad English's Missing You. Anyway, John Waite is back with a new studio album called Rough & Tumble, his last studio album was Downtown Journey Of The Heart in 2006.
The opener is the title track Rough & Tumble, and it's somehow rough, coz it's not the polished sound of the 90's. This tune is stripped down to the basics, focusing on the essential... A bluesy guitar riff and Waite's voice that's you get. With Shadows Of Love he has a Bad English-like track, a catchy balladesque rocker. One of my favorites is Evil, a song which seems to combine Waite's past and add a modern touch thanks to song writing partner Kyle Cook (Matchbox Twenty). Another highlight is the ballad If You Ever Get Lonely! A surprise is the cover of Tina Turner's Sweet Rhode Island Red, and John Waite managed to combine the Turner-ish sound with his own style. Initially John Waite had planned to do an EP, but the label wanted a full album and so he thought it's time to record a song which impressed him many years ago. The bluesy Love's Goin' Out Of Style is an enchanting tune and hopefully it will be on the set list next time around. This one has the potential to become a classic! Better Off Gone is another song of Waite / Cook, actually the first they wrote together. The right stuff to cruise around in summer and it's followed by the bluesy Further The Sky, another cover. I don't know the original, but Mr. Waite make it sound like it's his own. This time he got a helping hand by guitarist Shane Fontayne. With Peace Of Mind is a guitar-driven tune which kicks off with spoken words and shows a different facet of John Waite. The song is based on Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf. It would be the closer, but you get 2 bonus tracks. At the European edition it's Mr Wonderful and Hanging Tree. Mr. Wonderful his long time fans will know, it was on his first solo album, a song with a special feeling. Quite entertaining. Hanging Tree was written with Shane Fontayne and was a song John Waite always thought would be a good bonus track - and here we are.
If you love John Waite's solo albums, this won't disappoint you. But everybody who likes hard rock without bombastic sounds, should check it out! It's an authentic release of a great singer!
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