Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: 02/14/2020
Production: Jeff Pilson
Album length: 57.08 min
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 9.5 / 10
Black Swan is yet another “escape valve” for musicians from world-famous bands who had their golden days in the eighties or around the turn of the eighties into the nineties, and who are still active today, kept alive by the wings of old glory, of course. Black Swan bring together four outstanding musicians under one roof: vocalist Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group), bassist Jeff Pilson (ex-Dio, ex-Dokken, Foreigner), super-guitarist Reb Beach (Winger, Whitesnake) and drummer Matt Starr (Mr. Big, Ace Frehley).
Honestly, moves like this kind of team-up are welcome. If it clicks, that is. When it does, a formation like this definitely holds a certain musical charisma, a statement of its own, or at the very least it effectively calls up nostalgia for a time when the golden years of rock’n’roll were rolling by, and the memory of them is always a good one. On their debut “Shake The World”, Black Swan have both.
The first thing that jumps out at your ears is the unbelievable shape Scottish vocalist Robin McAuley is in. Compared to his studio recordings from the eighties, when he worked with Schenker, he flat-out shines, because his voice is still potent, piercing and dominant. He decisively conquers every register. High, highest. On top of all that, he adds that recognizable rasp that’s his trademark. Then there are the three other brilliant musicians, true masters of their craft. A guarantee of consistently outstanding execution in the hard rock field. The only question is how much inspiration they brought with them into the studio when writing the material for the debut “Shake The World”. If we limit ourselves to Reb Beach alone, his guitar phrasing and soloing on the Black Swan debut sound noticeably more Winger-like, which was to be expected, since Winger is Reb’s home band. This exceptional guitarist once again demonstrates, across the album, some incredible escapades of jaw-dropping, sonically insane virtuosity, developing his own sonic signature that remains untouched. Beach literally glows and shines throughout this album. Not just in the mid-eight passages, he decorates the transitional parts and the lead phrases themselves with great skill. He keeps up an incredible wit and sparkle, and the songs gain tremendous dynamics and variety that way. Jeff Pilson matters above all as an arranger, producer and composer, and in that role he proved to be the essential element who carried Black Swan, in a thoroughly credible way, from the idea of the bosses at Frontiers Music Srl. to its realization. His bass guitar on the tracks constantly delivers a contrasting sonic and atmospheric counterweight to Beach’s phrasing, cutting like reinforced steel through concrete as it builds its rattling clang. The band also develops an extremely funky groove kinetic, as captured in the flirtatious rhythms of She’s On To Us or Big Disaster. It’s no secret that the compositions subtly weave in, or tersely slip in, an element of blues. The Rock That Roll Away delivers, as the title itself says, rock’n’roll drive and speaks to you in a playfully witty way in the lyrics.
There’s over 57 minutes of music here. Fans of classic hard rock will be thrilled. They’re not Winger, they’re not Dokken, they’re not Foreigner (even though Sacred Place is a candidate for a “lost Foreigner classic”), and they’re not MSG, but their own story, one that will nonetheless bring together all the fans of the bands I just listed. McAuley sings as if he wanted to blow up the microphone and tomorrow was the end of the world. The choruses build an atmospheric crescendo, and tracks like Make It There, Immortal Soul, or the opener Shake The World (the vocal melody carries a bit of Dio charisma) crawl into your ear in an instant with their grabby hooks. Black Swan build up plenty of pomp, but they can also serve up a darker theatrical turn of events (Johnny Came Marching). The album keeps the listener in top-notch theatrical tension, and the songs are sharpened with great skill in both production and performance. The chorus of Unless We Change and its mid-eight passage bring a slight compositional detour to the album, as the track feels mildly Queen-like, and that detour is very welcome. Funnily enough, the closing track Divided/United sounds even more Queen-like, and it wraps up the excellent “Shake The World” in a particularly festive way.
Black Swan have delivered a top-class album. A top-class debut that, as its title hints, has really shaken the world. The album is exactly what only old, seasoned tomcats who breathed hard rock in the eighties can conjure up and deliver. An incredibly nostalgic record that would have given Black Swan instant commercial success if it had come out in the eighties. Considering how quickly it was made, it’s downright unbelievable how much inspiration and creative spark it delivers. Great stuff!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Shake The World
2. Big Disaster
3. Johnny Came Marching
4. Immortal Souls
5. Make It There
6. She’s On To Us
7. The Rock That Rolled Away
8. Long Road To Nowhere
9. Sacred Place
10. Unless We Change
11. Divided/United
Line-up:
Robin McAuley- vocals, backing vocals
Reb Beach- guitar, backing vocals
Jeff Pilson- bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Matt Starr- drums, percussion
