If you are wondering what happened to Fair Warning's vocalist Tommy Heart, well here he is. He migrated from a slick melodic outfit to this down n'dirty no frills band.
Soul Doctor is straight up hard rock. They showcase Heart's voice, which has lost some of its accent over time, pounding rhythm section and full throttle guitars. They twist up classic rock with Aerosmith and
Bon Jovi influences scattered throughout and it makes for a nice mix of music. The more melodic bits give flashbacks to
Cinderella and
Tesla but with more sax and slide guitars.
Their previous two albums, self titled and "Systems Go Wild" presented this same brand of up front rock but seemed to miss something. The songwriting was just not quite up to speed and many of the songs sounded too much the same. For a few tracks it was interesting but soon fell off into tedium. Thankfully they have found the right formula for this sort of music and "For a Fistful of Dollars" is all the better for it.
"Eatin' On Me" is a modern twisted take on what you will come to be familiar with, the
Soul Doctor style. The modern touches are reminiscent of Saigon Kick or latter day Pretty Maids. That is, if they were in a drunken bar brawl and knocked the bartender out with the first punch.
The better tracks include
"Best Way to Fade" and
"Under Your Skin" which reverberates with a
Foreigner feel. The tracks where
Foreigner had swagger and attitude like "Jukebox Hero" kind of sound. Throw in a good smattering of soul and this is what you get. Big melodies with a harsh edge and Tommy even hitting some of those warbling Lou Gramm-ish notes from his heyday.
"Remember" is ballad-esque with lots of piano and a few moments that bring you back to the cowboy days a'la
Bon Jovi's "Young Guns" material. This is softer stuff but doesn't wuss out. The guitar keeps wailing to the end.
Unfortunately some songs are still too repetitive for their own good such as
"Where Do We Go". It has potential but fizzes out by the seemingly millionth time they fall back on that chorus. It's a decent chorus but there's not enough extras to go along with it to break up the monotony.
"Ten Seconds of Love" throws in the brass, thus garnering an instant matchup with Lynch Mob's "Tangled in the
Web", of course that's where the similarities there stop but it sure does make this one more interesting. Although I would like to personally strangle whoever thought it was a brilliant idea to repeat the song's title to infinity.
"She's Mine" comes slithering onto the scene like a rattlesnake slinking in the grass. It has a swaggering rhythm and reminds me of a million late 80s hard rock songs. Maybe some
Cinderella lurking in there somewhere? When they had cowboy hats on and not the glammed up pink scarf wearing incarnation of the fairy tale boys. The horns sound great here and help hammer it home with authority. Good stuff with lots of cutting guitar courtesy of Chris Lyne. Maybe even a little
Tesla-ish around the guitar and overall rhythm.
The last track features alot of harmonica and suffers for it. They strip things back and just clunk and clink along. Not anything exceptional or original. Not alot here that is
"Cheap Down 'N' Nasty" at all.
Overall this is a good effort by a German band that is obviously trying very hard to sound very Southern American. The clash of bare bones basic hard rock with these trappings is an interesting mixture but one that is hard pressed to appeal to a wider audience. The latter half of the album sees
Soul Doctor just mixing up their previous tunes and regurgitating them back out with a few changes. It's just straight up rock n' roll with
"The Trigger" and the painfully repetitive
"Give Me A Ride". Not enough pizazz and originality in the whole disc to carry it all the way through, but still a huge improvement over their other attempts.
The closest match is the far superior Russell Allen's Atomic Soul, but if you already own it, then this is an easy recommendation for those predisposed to enjoying this style or anyone looking for rock that mines its older roots. "For a Fistful of Dollars" is not overly polished and has enough grit and grime between the blues harp and the slide guitar to sound authentic. Now if only it was as classic and destined to be as long lasting and fondly remembered as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western that it borrows its name from. Still, a solid listen for when the mood is right.
Written by
Alanna Saturday, December 10, 2005
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