Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Roth Brock Project
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2016
Running time: 48:11
Rating: 4/5
Anyone who knows their hard rock and melodic rock will quickly work out who’s behind the name of this new project: guitarist John Roth, known as a member of Winger, who has also played with Starship and Giant, and vocalist Terry Brock, who sings with Strangways, has worked with Leroux, and, just like Roth, with Giant too.
Roth and Brock first crossed paths in 2009, when Giant were putting together new material that later found its way onto the studio album “Promised Land”. A special creative chemistry and musical bond developed between them in no time. The two waited for the right moment to make some of their shared ideas happen. Roth has been patiently gritting his teeth, waiting for Kip Winger to come up with new material for a new Winger album, and for the other Winger buddy, Reb Beach, who is permanently loaded up with Whitesnake duties, so as a top-notch guitarist he’s been unfairly pushed to the sidelines, which is a real shame for such a talent. Terry Brock, on the other hand, is pretty much condemned to waiting for his Strangeways comrades to get moving again and start working on a new album. Let’s be honest, though: the latest Stangeways efforts are beneath criticism, and it would’ve been better if they’d never existed. Brock’s solo album »Diamond Blue« (2010) is a real balm for those of us who are more than disappointed with the new Strangeways material.
Brock hasn’t lost his knack for finding instantly infectious musical lines, which are forged into the pompous choruses of every single track. The guy has kept all the passion and heartfelt charge of top-class vocal delivery that carries the »Roth Brock Project« album at every step. The production is modern. The album sounds stripped-down, direct and alive, with no »studio polish«, and the guitars hit hard up front as they bite their way through signature guitar phrases. The keyboards play second fiddle, coming through in the calmer moments (Distant Voices) or the intros (Never Givin’ Up), especially in the swelling pads that reach for atmospheric peaks in the choruses. Given that Roth’s guitars are dominant alongside Brock’s vocals, the choruses are masterfully embellished with layered vocal harmonies that add contrast and lift the mood in the bombastic chorus melodies
On this album Roth is finally his own boss. The man didn’t just play guitars for this record. He contributed keyboards and bass guitars, and of course went all out designing the solos and harmonic passages. This time he didn’t have to bow to the compositional authority of his excellency Kip Winger, and he didn’t need to take Reb Beach’s solo and riff contributions into account either. He’s actually let some ideas that had been brewing in his head for a long time shine in full glory, and built them into a collage of eleven seriously strong melodic rock compositions that won’t leave fans of the genre in the lurch for even a second. The songs range from faster rock’n’roll firestarters, like the opener Young Gun, to hard-hitting ballads, like Distant Voices in the middle of the album, where Brock’s vocal expression rages with especially fiery intensity.
What the “Roth Brock Project” album delivers is basically a neat blend of the best that these two musicians bring from their own musical worlds and backgrounds. Roughly speaking, this album should first and foremost delight all the Winger fans, then those who know Brock’s solo album, the excellent »Diamond Blue«, which came out six years ago, and it’s worth adding that the first three Strangeways albums also slot in easily in terms of both content and energy. »Roth Brock Project« is thus an exceptionally fine melodic rock record, with a somewhat more »sharpened« production that pushes the guitars »forward«, and eleven equally strong compositions that don’t waver in quality.
Roth Brock Project – Young Gun (official video):
Line-up
Terry Brock – vocals, backing vocals
John Roth – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals, backing vocals
Scott Trammell – drums, percussion
Production
John Roth
Track list
1. Young Gun
2. What’s It To Ya
3. Young Again
4. If That’s What It Takes
5. I Don’t Know Why
6. Distant Voices
7. We Are
8. Fighter
9. My City
10. Never Givin’ Up
11. Reason To Believe
