Ricky Warwick's claim to fame was fronting Scottish sleaze Rock band The Almighty. On Almighty's later albums they took a punk approach to their song writing. Therefore I was expecting something in the vein of later Almighty, when I put Ricky Warwick's first solo album in the disc player.
Surprise! Ricky Warwick's album is acoustic driven rock in the American sing/songwriter tradition - not unlike Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. The softer style is supported by Ricky's voice, which sounds more polished. The raw edge from the Almighty days is replaced by a really smooth singing style.
All in all there are loads of great songs.
Mysterioso sets the mood with its full sound even though its acoustic driven except for the solo.
Three Sides To Every Story is another great song with a great twist lyrically. Almighty's lyrics were political and often dealt with religion. The lyrics on "Tattoos and Alibis" are personal and inspired by Ricky's personal experiences.
Listening from beginning to end, the downside to "Tattoos and Alibis" is the dominance of quiet songs. Most work out greatly, but
Nothing Is Real and
Crack 'N' Divide are too sleepy. The formula works perfect on
Enemies,
The Genuine Fool and
It Always Rains On Sunday.
Ricky now resides in Ireland and the influence from the Irish folk music is heard on several tracks with
The Church Of Paranoia as a prime example. The definitive album highlight is the rockiest song
Can't Live With Maybe. The up-tempo style works out perfect for the half-acoustic style and it makes you want more songs in the same vein.
Joe Elliott from
Def Leppard co-produced the album and he has done a superb job along with Ronan McHugh. Ricky is a great song craftsman. He has matured as songwriter clearly focusing on melody and great choruses. I look forward to hearing the songs performed only by Ricky and his acoustic guitar as support slot for
Def Leppard.
A different and surprising album from a guy that used to ooze rawness, both in his looks and singing style.
Written by
Michael Sunday, October 26, 2003
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