"Vegas must Die" is one of 2005's most anticipated releases.
Jizzy Pearl is known as founding member of
Love/Hate and also current singer of Ratt. Jizzy released his first solo album in 2004 "Just a Boy" and it was one of the
best albums of that year.
The common theme on "Vegas
Must Die" is Jizzy's experiences during the year he lived in Vegas. I have a very ambivalent relationship to "Vegas must Die". I have had the record for 2 months and heard it countless times. I like the record a lot but there is something missing. The record fails to catch and keep my attention.
"Just a Boy" contained material recorded during a long period of time and while it had various guest players on it - Jizzy uses a steady band for this one and he wrote most songs in a 3 week period. Once again Jizzy uses his friend Mark Dutton as bassist (also known as Muddy ex. L.A. Guns) and drummer Dave Moreno, who also played on "Just a Boy". Guitarist Pete Reeven set his mark on the album. Pete Reeven has a vintage dry 70's sound to his guitar - very alike the sound of his former band Salty Dog.
The album highlight is the ballad
How'd I Get So Lonely. It has a relaxed atmosphere and the lyrics understate the theme of this album, namely Jizzy's troubled time after breaking up with his wife. Another highlight is the bluesy
Only Wait So Long - Pete Reeven proves that he is a feel player with some great emotional leads. Jizzy sounds brilliant and puts heart and soul in his vocals as always.
Other great songs are the short acoustic song
You Don't Own Me and
Look at You Now, which has a cool emotion to it with hand claps and piano.
Songs like
Little Dancer, the trippy and atmospheric
Long Time are good songs, but generally they lack a catchy chorus
All in all there are lots of mid-tempo tunes and even though
True Love is a great song I miss the hard pumping/kick ass beat that characterized
Love/Hate.
Lies and
Ball and Gag both has that kick ass vibe, but
Lies never seems to move away from its starting point. I miss more rocky songs like
Do You Wanna Get High and
Extreme, which was found on
Jizzy's last solo album
Jizzy raspy vocals sound great and "Vegas must Die" has a rawer production than the self financed "Just a Boy"
"Vegas must Die" is a solid release and consistent in its sound because the record was recorded during a short period with the same musicians. However, none of the songs surpasses the brilliant material on "Just a Boy"
The album is played simple and it has a stripped down 70's feel to it.
Written by
Michael Tuesday, October 11, 2005
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