Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Burning Rain
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2013
Running time: 64:27
Rating: 4/5
Burning Rain is the story of a thrilling creative partnership between two talented artists: guitarist Doug Aldrich and singer Keith St. John. In 1999 and 2000 Burning Rain put out two albums in quick succession, and then the wheel of fate spun the members’ musical paths off in wild directions. Aldrich took off for Dio, St. John for Montrose. Even though the band signed a deal for a third studio album back in 2004, it never came out. The material and the concept for the new record were there, but the thing just couldn’t be taken all the way to the finish line, or polished up to its best possible shape. Doug Aldrich had landed a full-time gig with Whitesnake by then, and there was simply no time left for anything else.
That is, until this year. The quartet has obviously found enough time to get back together and be reborn. They even set up a brand new official website, and Frontiers Records, in their usual caring way, not only released the new studio album but also reissued »Burning Rain« from 1999 and »Pleasure to Burn«. Both had long since »vanished« from the market.
This is another excellent album, born of the minds, nimble fingers and vocal chops of both artists. You can tell it was made earlier. Much earlier than it was released. It feels like the material came together soon after »Pleasure to Burn« came out. Creatively, it hooks up to that record incredibly well. In style and in sound.
The new album is woven from the tradition of a retro-sounding stampede, the way a melodic hard rock creed thoroughly dunked in the blues sees it. Here Aldrich, as the man who brings the guitar phrase into a song, has always been at his strongest. It’s also the kind of arrangement that has always got the most out of St. John’s vocal range. The guy keeps up incredible explosiveness, passion, ferocity – the emotion is genuine every step of the way. Once again you can feel that Led Zeppelin obsession, both in Aldrich’s riffing and in the relived melodic lines of St. John’s vocal delivery, which can’t help but go thrillingly »Plant-esque«. St. John is strong across his vocal registers, as he always was. Vocally he occasionally veers toward Johnny Gioeli (Hardline) – especially in spots where the melodic reach of the chorus lines is put on full display.
The ranks of the awakened quartet are filled out by current House Of Lords bassist Sean McNabb (who has also played with Dokken and Quiet Riot) and drummer Matt Starr from the Ace Frehley Band. Two special guests also lent their talents to the album: the ultra-loud drummer Brian Tichy – Aldrich’s former Whitesnake buddy – and Jimmy D’Anda, formerly of Bullet Boys. The chemistry of that juicy interplay is felt across the whole record. It doesn’t lack erogenous seductiveness, nor tightly defined density of arrangement, with a polished verse – ignition-ready chorus setup. The production is live and raw, the riffs sharpened, the vocals tight and explosive, dominantly centered in the sound picture. At the same time, it feels like »Epic Obsession« is a darker album than both of its predecessors.
The songs don’t waver in quality. The album sustains a high level of craftsmanship through its entire running time, so it grabs you from the first moment and holds you till the end. The Led Zeppelin obsession shows in the bonus track, a cover of the classic Kashmir, where Aldrich is especially inventive in filling the space with »bare guitar« playing (forget the orchestral arrangements of the original!). Another priceless performance by this alien (Coverdale knew exactly where to invest his money when he got him into the lineup!). And in this cover St. John proves once again that he’s the eternal »spare« Robert Plant.
It’s not yet clear whether this release is really just a plan realized nine years late, or whether the band will actually pull together more in the future. Maybe at least one tour around the world. Let’s be surprised, and until then let’s enjoy »Epic Obsession«. It’s a full-blooded, punchy, melodic blues hard rock album that doesn’t bring anything you haven’t heard before. But what deals it a winning poker hand of aces is the genuine rhetoric of an approach built on a rock-hard, full-balls game! And that counts.
Lineup
Keith St. John – vocals
Doug Aldrich – guitar
Sean McNabb – bass, backing vocals
Matt Starr – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Brian Tichy – drums
Jimmy D’Anda – drums
Production
Doug Aldrich & Keith St. John
Tracklist
1. Sweet Little Baby Thing
2. The Cure
3. Till You Die
4. Heaven Gets Me By
5. Pray Out Loud
6. Our Time Is Gonna Come
7. Too Hard To Break
8. My Lust Your Fate
9. Made For Your Heart
10. Ride The Monkey
11. Out In The Cold Again
12. When Can I Believe In Love
BONUS TRACKS:
13. Kashmir
14. Heaven Gets Me By (acoustic version)
