Artist: Waite, John
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2011
Rating: 3.5/5
John Waite is a legendary British singer with a successful solo career behind him, defined above all by untouchable albums, melodic rock gems like “No Brakes”, “Ignition”, “Rover Return”, “Temple Bar”, “Mask Of Smiles”. The song Missing You is Waite’s evergreen hit from the golden age of the eighties, and it still loves to spin on radio stations today. The guy was part of the super hard rock band Bad English, alongside two prominent Journey members, namely his former The Babys partner Jonathan Cain and guitar virtuoso Neal Schon, and with Bad English he put out two more unsurpassed hard rock albums.
In recent years, quite a bit of water has flowed under the bridge before Waite’s new studio album finally made its way into the world. We waited a good while for “Rough And Tumble” too, a whole decade. The British-born musician, who’s been based in the USA for years now, is of course maturing in terms of expression.
He’s breathed an incredibly alive, raw sound into the new album, without any polishing whatsoever. On purpose. The man is experienced and seasoned, and over the years he’s turned into a performer who knows exactly what he wants to highlight creatively. At any given moment. And he pulls it off. Effectively. Well, with this maturing and all those miles of musical mileage behind him, what comes to the surface of the new creations is a love for the kind of music John Waite himself grew up on as a kid and developed with. The 2007 release called “Journey Of A Heart”, with reimagined songs from Waite’s career, already hinted at something like that.
No need to sound the alarm over musical detours! I’d just like to warn everyone expecting a melodic hard rock AOR gem that this time you’ll have to make peace with something else entirely. Those long years of living in the USA naturally show on the songs of the new record. The album sounds American. It’s impregnated with a lively touch of blues. So John Waite has delivered a stripped-down hard rock album, where the punch of rock noise is clearly front and center, while his excellent vocal reigns over the whole thing in all its dominant glory. Just as we’ve come to (be spoiled and) expect from this excellent vocalist.
In this newly defined musical setting, Waite’s thick, juicy voice finds its place the way Coverdale’s did in his best days, when the Moody/Marsden duo stood by his side. Don’t take that literally. Think of it as an easier point of reference for where the dog is buried this time. Kyle Cook is the answer to the questions. The former Matchbox Twenty guitarist is the factor leaving the most traces of his activity on Waite’s new album. As a co-writer of individual songs and, of course, in the performance too. He’s a one-of-a-kind guy. And that’s very welcome. Because what we have here is a special album. With special charisma, a special spirit, it’s simply a John Waite album. Of course it’s infused with the charm of Waite’s confident delivery, and certain guitar passages, the guitar phrases themselves, leave their mark too.
That said, the album fluctuates in quality. The opening stretch is the strongest, starting with the title track opener, a slick mix of melody and raw rock directness, then in order Shadows Of Love, Evil and If You Ever Get Lonely (with an excellent, infectious chorus), and Skyward. Things move along lively, and dynamics are taken care of every which way. Here the album grips every hard rock soul firmly.
Then there’s the cover of Tine Turner’s Sweet Rode Island Red, which confirms what kind of music appeals to the mature John Waite. But it doesn’t leave any special artistic impression that would put the song among the album’s better moments. Nor should you expect the “for new times” remake of the classic Mr. Wonderful, from Waite’s album “Ignition”, to surpass the original version. That one remains untouchable. It’s interesting to note a bit more of a pop rock rhetoric on the songs Hanging Tree and the excellent Better Off Gone, which stands out on the album thanks to its choruses. Even comparisons with Waite’s classic album “Temple Bar” aren’t out of place here. The rest of the material stays in the zone of mediocrity and is less interesting.
“Rough And Tumble” is a very high-quality hard rock product. It presents John Waite and his signature voice, surrounded by the character of stripped-down, direct, bold hard rock catchiness, with occasional clear flirting with blues elements. Given the long gap, it’s interesting that Waite had to pad the album with a remake of one of his older songs and a cover of a Tine Turner original. You’d expect that over such a long stretch a fair few concrete ideas would pile up, but as it stands “Rough And Tumble” does justify a decent level of high quality in every respect. Still, it can’t possibly reach the quality standards of the solo studio albums from Waite’s golden era.
Line-up
John Waite – vocals
kyle Cook – guitar, backing vocals, programming, bass guitar
Luis Maldonado – guitar
Shayne Fontayne – guitar
Mike Webb – Hammond B3 organ
Tim Hogan – bass guitar
David Sanots – bass guitar
Roger Carter – drums, percussion
Fred Eltringham – drums, percussion
Billy Wilkes – drums, percussion
Production
John Waite & Kyle Cook
Track list
1. Rough And Tumble
2. Shadows Of Love
3. Evil
4. If You Ever Get Lonely
5. Skyward
6. Sweet Rhode Island Red
7. Love’s Goin’ Out Of Style
8. Better Off Gone
9. Further The Sky
10. Peace Of Mind
11. Mr. Wonderful
12. Hanging Tree
