Jack Blades - Rock N Roll Ride 2012

If you aren’t familiar with Night Ranger perhaps Damn Yankees will do. These are two bands where a singer/bassist Jack Blades hang around two decades ago. Also don’t forget his other big project with Tommy Shaw in Shaw/Blades. Being active player and composer Jack Blades continued delivering good hard rock music in his second solo album, Rock N Roll Ride. This is an album in between these bands, Night Ranger and Damn Yankees. Most of material didn’t really try to pulled out the head with heavy riff, but simply this is enjoyable rock music close to AOR territory.

Heavy songs are Born For This and Don’t Give Up, with notable solos from fellow Night Ranger guitarist Joel Hoekstra. Then followed are slightly slow but still hard rocking songs as in opening track Back In The Game, Rock N Roll Ride. Then AOR feeling similar to Journey songs as in Love Life. It is pretty solid menu with many different feel. Of course we get some of ballads and acoustic as in Anything for You and Hey Now.

It is an enjoyable album, songs are mostly creative connected between the lyric and mood to the music. Song like Anything For You explore different singing style by Jack, remind me to REM in the middle ‘90s era. This is a good album to bring along with a ride and enjoyable to non hard rock fellow.

Metalharem class: ******* seven stars out of ten

Jack Blades - Rock N Roll Ride 2012
buy it here

1. Back In The Game
2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride
3. Born For This
4. Hardest Word To Say
5. Anything For You
6. Love Life
7. West Hollywood
8. Don't Give Up
9. Say You Will
10. Rise And Shine
11. Hey Now

Band:
Jack Blades: Bass, guitar, acoustic guitar, lead and background vocals
Joel Hoekstra: Guitars and solos
Will Evankovich: Acoustic guitars, mandolin, add. guitars, Coral Sitar guitar, background vocals
Kelly Keagy and Brian Tichy: Drums
Eric Levy and Christian Matthew Cullen: Keyboards