Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Tyketto
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2012
Length: 46:51
Rating: 4/5
Tyketto are that famous melodic rock outfit that showed up as the eighties were winding down and were never destined to cash in commercially. Plain and simple. They got washed away by the wave of grunge bands that followed in the nineties. Seventeen years after their last studio release (“Shine”, 1995 – the one with future “Journeyman” Steve Augeri on vocals, not Danny Vaughn), Tyketto are back. And they’re back in the original lineup: Danny Vaughn (vocals), Brooke St. James (guitar), Michael »Arbeeny« Clayton (drums) and Jimi Kennedy (bass)!
»Dig in Deep« is a big, mature comeback for the band. No need to worry, Tyketto don’t let anyone down with it! That said, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, don’t expect »Dig In Deep« to be a carbon copy of the first two studio albums, and don’t expect an attempt to recapture the hit single Forever More either. »Dig In Deep« is much, much closer to the Vaughn records than to the first two Tyketto albums. Which makes total sense. Clayton and Vaughn stayed together afterwards in Danny’s project Vaughn, which only put out its debut »Traveller« in 2007. Along with them, another former Tyketto member played in Vaughn: Jamie Scott, who replaced bassist Jimi Kennedy in the lineup for the second Tyketto album. Interestingly, neither Scott nor Clayton worked with Vaughn on the recording of Traveller.
»Dig In Deep« is really a continuation of »Traveller« by the Vaughn project, which means »Traveller« itself can safely be counted as the lost Tyketto album. As a vocalist, arranger and songwriter, Danny Vaughn is a hugely expressive figure who leaves the most visible stamp of his all-round artistic creativity on every record. His edge over other melodic rock musicians of roughly the same vintage (EMŠO number) is above all that Vaughn is an outstanding songwriter. That’s why the substance of »Dig In Deep« has a lot more tangible weight than you’d actually expect from similar bands that came up around the time Bon Jovi and Whitesnake were sweeping the competition off the top of the world’s charts with their albums (those who know Tyketto will get why these two bands in particular are cited). Vaughn has a distinctive voice that’s easy to pick out at the core of a typical Tyketto song. Hunting for vocal parallels is a thankless job this time around, but if you must, it would be the occasional shade of Jimi Jamison’s (Survivor) voice. Especially in some of the chorus melodies in the first half of the album, when a three-part vocal harmony joins the main melody.
»Dig In Deep« has a wonderfully lively production, masterfully filled out and sharply contrasted in detail. It boasts a solid, detonating »groove« from the rhythm section, the red-hot dynamic punch of the lead guitar lines, and solos in which St. James proves he can torture a guitar neck at least as devilishly as the thoroughly »shredded« Jimi Bell (House Of Lords). The background is often filled with the tantalizing role of acoustic guitar accompaniment, which is something of a constant in Danny Vaughn’s work. The title track, for instance, is especially dark, carries the outline of raw Led Zeppelin figures in some of its transitional guitar ornaments, and has a barbed chorus melody that, with a bit of imagination, could even morph into an Aerosmith-style Love In An Elevator. Tyketto don’t hide their blues starting points, which in no way cloud the melodic purity of the compact »flammables« (read: songs), but instead serve as an extra seasoning, superbly woven into the bulk of the album’s main song forms. That’s the finesse of the Tyketto ‘do that made so many compare them to Whitesnake and/or Bon Jovi from the very start. Of course, the songs often also bring out a dark, epic element more clearly, as in the personal, confessional The Fight Left In Me.
»Dig In Deep« is Tyketto’s coming-of-age makeover, and it fits right in with the times. The springboard to this stage of Tyketto’s artistry in 2012 is, of course, the Vaughn project’s album called »Traveller«. The new album has clearly tangible substance: 11 carefully arranged melodic rock songs, willing, lively vibes, a clearly defined character and sharply contrasted expressive variety, all dynamically driven by the songs’ lead motifs. It’s an excellent comeback album with a maturely defined arranging style, the fruit of a long gestation, a rich stash of usable ideas and above all the experience of musicians who know how to »turn things around« in the studio the way it should be done. Let’s hope »Dig in Deep« gets some new studio follow-ups.
Line-up
Danny Vaughn – vocals, guitar
Brooke St. James – guitar
Jimi Kennedy – bass
Michael Clayton – drums
Production
Danny Vaughn
Track list
- Faithless
- Love to Love
- Here’s Hoping It Hurts
- Battle Lines
- The Fight Left in Me
- Evaporate
- Monday
- Dig In Deep
- Sound Off
- Let This One Slide
- This Is How We Say Goodbye
