I came into this with a heap load of ignorance and low expectations. U.K. hard rock band,
Thunder has always been one of those outfits that I really love when they are doing bluesy ballads such as "Love Walked In" and "Love Worth Dying For" but the rest usually gets the "skip" button hit and the songs soon fade from memory. Danny Bowes has a great husky voice with a bit of rasp creeping in, just perfect for rhythm and blues old school style (I know you say R&B these days and think of Alicia Keys and R. Kelly) and Luke Morley always busts out just the right tones, his guitar seems to sing straight from the heart, a shattered one with a blue and broken string.
What a surprise it is that "Mo's Barbeque" presents these two collaborating together outside of the hard rock ring of
Thunder, serving up some tasty treats that flirt with a variety of styles including jazz, Latin, a heavy smattering of rock and pure ballsy blues. The crystal ball tells me that this summer I'll still be playing this just to relax and cool off to.
Thunder devotees beware, this is definitely not an imitation of their main band, it is instead, a very different side project and one that deserves to be treated on the grounds of what it
is instead of expecting
Thunder Version 1.2. Who knew that a couple of white guys from England could channel their inner soul and unleash it in such a fine display of pure bluesy rock?
As for the songs, there are original tracks and several covers, but my favorites are the ones they wrote and backed themselves. Even before I had sorted them out (since almost every cover was
new to me as well) the pieces had already fallen this way and with repeated playings, allowing the songs to marinate in my mind, it continues to stay this way.
"On A Day Like Today" is a casual laid-back tune that describes the stifling atmosphere of sweltering summer afternoon perfectly with a love interest lingering in the background. The Latin vibes are absolutely wonderful, trumpet and beat-keeping rhythm section blend into a soothing instrumental melody and Bowes picks it right back up with some David Coverdale-ish "Mmmmms" and a gentle sweep back into the chorus. The ending is a jam session that is fabulous, piano and Flamenco influenced acoustic guitar weaving together in sweet harmony.
"Since I Left Her" continues the woes of love, this one pledging the easy road out by way of denial, yet every word that rings across the moody musical background says the very opposite. He may say he feels fine but deep down, losing her is killing him and the emotions are spread out so exposed, naked and bare for everyone to see. The tempo again is relaxed, but not really ballad-esque, and the changeup in the song's heart is crisp, showcasing an effortless change into a bittersweet guitar solo. There's more great guitar work in store, as the casual riffs morph into a rough bottom heavy aggressive beast as more denial is sworn at the finale. There are two true ballads,
"Illogical" which attempts to make sense of love that simply makes no sense at all, and my pick of the album, the downtrodden
"That's Not Love". If it were a colour, it would surely be blue, for this song absolutely wallows in the blues from the get-go, but is a beautifully created track. Bowes twists and turns each lyric with his heart borne and bleeding on his sleeve, the female voices in the background echoing the sentiment "that's not love" just drive the feelings home even harsher. The floaty, gentle feel and all the little extras frills make all the difference.
However, "Mo's Barbeque" is not just all about depression tinged music, the guys can rock too, and they pull out all the stops for
"Waiting For the Sky To Fall" which rips and roars with the best of any blues based rock from the 1970s. It has everything going for it, a killer chorus and catchy hooks oozing like a spicy BBQ sauce from every guitar wail. Speaking of axe slinging, there's plenty of it here, Morley squeezing every drop of funky aggression from those strings. And there's also the cover of Stevie Wonder's
"Living For the City" which is spot-on after comparisons with the original. Strangely I think our
Thunder boys have actually managed to improve it with their raw and emotive take on this buried treasure from 1973. The other cover that reaches out and grabs you is the disc's final cut,
"I Can't Stand the Rain". So many people have covered this, but likely the more recent covers are the ones that stand out as being familiar, Tina Turner and Michael Bolton belting it in the 1980s and Missy Elliot in the 90s with Timbaland's production on board, but forget all of that and stack it up against the original, done by Ann Peebles. They manage to capture the stripped spirit of Peebles' version but twist it in its gut with a cool funk-a-fied vibe with a seething rock'n'roll edge that co-exist at the same time. Even the piano breaking out and going solo in the midst of it all manages to "rock". The times I have heard a piano truly "rocking" so to speak can be counted on one hand but here it truly does, as Bowes and Morley managed to amaze me once again.
"How Could You?" which is another original tune, switches between styles, from bopping funk to confidently ripping rock and like
"That's Not Love", uses female backing voices to great effect, the soulfully defiantly demanding feminine voices make a nice stark contrast to the swaggering then miserable pleading wail of Danny Bowes.
All is not perfection in this jam session, for they do manage to step into a few holes along the way. The cover of
"Why Did You Do It" is by the numbers boring and the opener
"Desire" is forgettable despite its best attempts to woo the listener in with a rollicking vibe that just falls flat and seems generic when all is said in done. The magic, which is sprinkled across many other songs, is sorely missing here, leaving it empty without a saving grace.
"Come Together in the Morning" is not as awful or fidgety as the before mentioned two but it still reeks of the "we just tacked it on to fill up space" syndrome. These could grow with repeated listens but the rest of the album is boosted to such high standards that these are just overshadowed by the rest of the disc's blues basted goodness.
This album is not metal at all, but for what it is - bluesy rock with other influences mixed in - it often does extremely well, and may just very well be the perfect disc for a jukebox in a shady bar somewhere, with its swinging up tempo tracks, cool covers and "there's a tear in my beer" type tunes that take a depressing situation and just beat it to death with relaxed delight. Some of these songs are so wonderfully done, it is just unbelievable, proving that these two are very versatile musicians indeed. Those looking for a good disc to just chill to after a hard day's work, this is tailor made for you. Everyone else that wants something heavy with metal in it should search elsewhere. Likely "Mo's Barbeque" will fall through the cracks as one of those genre bending discs that many won't "get", but those that do are in for a real treat indeed. Highly recommended for those with an open mind and a penchant for early Whitesnake/David Coverdale's "Northwinds" or dreaming of a softer ZZ Top. It proves indeed that sometimes wandering off the beaten path, is a good thing.
Written by
Alanna Thursday, March 25, 2004
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