Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Dunnery, Francis
Label: Self-released
Release: 2013
Rating: 4/5
»Frankenstein Monster« is Francis Dunnery’s eleventh solo album, and he’s probably best known to most fans of good music as the former guitarist and singer of British art rock greats It Bites. He left them in 1991, and ever since (not counting a failed reunion with his old buddies) he has stuck to his solo career, even though he still plays plenty of It Bites classics live. What’s less well known is that in 1996 he came within a whisker of becoming the singer of prog rock champions Genesis. He made the shortlist at the vocal audition before Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford finally went with Ray Wilson.
Francis dedicated his latest studio effort to his late brother Barry ‘Baz’ Dunnery, an equally excellent but far lesser-known guitarist and a member of the cult doom metal/prog rock band Necromandus (some even consider their one and only album, »Orexis of Death«, a ‘forgotten’ doom metal classic). Francis reportedly promised their mother (also deceased) that he and Baz would record at least one album together where you could hear both their electric guitars. But the older brother, a seriously talented guitarist who stubbornly dodged every chance of becoming well known, was taken by an early death.
So sadly, their mother’s wish never came true, but Francis decided to try for some kind of ‘approximation’: an album that would make the listener feel as if both Dunnery brothers were playing together, each bringing their own guitar approach. After spending most of the last few years on acoustic, Francis picked up the electric guitar again. The joy of playing it came flooding back, so Francis, who has always been heavily influenced by the legendary jazz/prog rock guitarist Allan Holdsworth, started putting together a new studio project called »Frankenstein Monster«. On it he re-recorded most of the songs Baz laid down in the early seventies as a member of Necromandus. Their debut should have come out back in 1973 but didn’t see the light of day until 1999, even though their producer and patron was none other than Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi.
In their short lifespan, Necromandus were clearly under the influence of Ozzy-era Black Sabbath and played a kind of mix of hard rock, or proto doom metal, and progressive rock (besides Black Sabbath you can hear echoes of bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, Led Zeppelin, Atomic Rooster and Black Widow), and that comes through loud and clear on Francis’s freshly re-recorded versions. Nowadays Necromandus are regarded as one of the first metal bands, and their unreleased album reached cult status even among those prog rock fans who like digging into more obscure acts.
On the re-recorded Necromandus compositions, Mr. Dunnery tried to copy his brother’s guitar style down to the last detail, with plenty of punchy, blues-soaked guitar phrases. He pulls it off nicely, considering he was never exactly known as a hard rocker. At heart he has always been a prog rock fan above all, as his recent collaboration with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett also shows. The titles of the Necromandus songs differ from the versions we’ve heard until now and, according to Francis, are actually the ones Baz’s band originally intended.
»Frankenstein Monster« really is a kind of monster forcibly stitched together and patched up. Besides the re-recorded Baz compositions, it also features a few brand-new, fully original songs by Francis and a cover of the prog rock/jazz fusion band Warm Dust (best known for having Paul Carrack, yet another Genesis singer who never was, among their members), titled »Blood of My Fathers«. To record the album, Francis used his backing band, the Sensational Francis Dunnery Electric Band, made up of Tony Beard, Jamie Bishop and Mike Kassedy. The title track, a new Francis composition that tells the inner feelings of Frankenstein’s monster with a sense of humor, is one of the few songs on the album that recalls the good old It Bites in its atmosphere and especially its romantic chorus, even though the electric guitar clearly dominates the production throughout. Right from the start, Mr. Dunnery shows with intelligent improvisations and melodic passages that he’s still an outstanding guitarist.
»Don’t Look Down Frank«, where the Black Sabbath influence is easy to hear, is on the other hand a pure Necromandus archive relic, meaning it’s soaked in a retro 70s sound and packed with fiery guitar phrases. Francis’s vocals, ideal above all for art rock and pop, fit surprisingly well into hard rock, while his punchy guitar variations keep surprising you at nearly every step. »Leaving The Depot« is another dynamic, quality hard rocker with progressive rhythmic elements and bluesy guitar finesse. On the melancholic ballad »I’ve Been Evil« you can feel the influence of Wishbone Ash, especially in the subtle, pastoral-tinged guitar arrangements.
»Limpet Man« is marked by thick bass lines and fiery guitar phrases, and otherwise it’s a perfect archive piece from the treasure trove of seventies heavy rock. »Marijuana Make Those Eyes At Me For« is lovely proof that Francis’s brother was a master at crafting witty guitar phrases, innovative for their time, where Iommi’s influence is impossible to miss. »Wum Wop« is one of the punchier re-recorded Necromandus numbers, with a hellish guitar riff up front, the kind you could hear in a similar form on some of the older Black Sabbath and Atomic Rooster tracks. »Big Fine Lad« is again a somewhat more subtle effort, with relaxed, bluesy guitar phrases and pleasant vocal harmonies.
»Yam«, as its title already hints, is full of interesting instrumental moments and unexpected time changes, and it makes a neat bridge between Francis’s modern art rock approach and Baz’s ‘old-school’ legacy. »Judy Green Rocket«, seasoned with scorching guitar phrases and showing a Deep Purple influence too, was already one of Necromandus’s best in its original version, so it’s no surprise that it’s among the most interesting moments on the album. The lost proto doom metal classic »Christianity«, mostly thanks to its gloomy guitar phrases, sounds almost like a carbon copy of early Black Sabbath, and even Dunnery’s vocal approach slightly recalls Ozzy this time. The socially critical, almost anarchistic lyrics could just as well have been written by Geezer Butler.
The aforementioned Warm Dust cover, »Blood Of My Fathers«, is a big stylistic detour from most of the compositions on »Frankeinstein Monster«. It’s a jazz rock fusion number whose approach also recalls the legendary Blood, Sweat & Tears a bit. Here Francis proves himself an excellent jazz guitarist too, which means he’s at home in a genre that’s stylistically much closer to him than blues and hard rock. »Ho Ho Your Sandwiches« is a track seasoned with witty guitar improvisations and steeped in the mysterious, slightly dark atmosphere that marked most of Necromandus’s output. The album closes with the melancholic ballad »Muti Colored Judy Green«. It’s a completely original piece, apart from its title, which refers to the Necromandus standard mentioned earlier. Mr. Dunnery plays it entirely on his own on acoustic guitar, and through its lyrics too it makes an exceptionally beautiful tribute to his late brother. His vocals have still kept that unmistakable melancholic watchfulness he had in the best It Bites days.
With »Frankenstein Monster«, a decidedly guitar-driven effort, Francis Dunnery has made a successful return to his progressive rock roots and paid a very fitting tribute to his late brother, whose spirit hovers over every one of these compositions. You can hear all the way through that Francis has rediscovered his long-suppressed musical love and had an immense amount of fun playing these pieces. True, as a songwriter he’s offered next to nothing new this time, but there’s a very noble reason behind that move, and plenty of people will discover this way a band from the seventies, long forgotten, that most never even knew existed.
Lineup
Francis Dunnery – vocals, electric and acoustic guitar
Jamie Bishop – bass guitar
Mike Cassedy – keyboards
Tony Beard – drums
Production
Francis Dunnery
Track list
1. Frankenstein Monster
2. Don’t Look Down Frank
3. Leaving the Depot
4. I’ve Been Evil
5. Limpet Man
6. Marijuana Make Those Eyes At Me For
7. Wum Wop
8. Big Fine Lad
9. Yam
10. Judy Green Rocket
11. Christianity
12. Blood Of My Fathers
13. Ho Ho Your Sandwiches
14. Multi Coloured Judy Green
