Jack Blades - Jack Blades (CD)

All Music Guide

Multiinstrumentalist, songwriter, and former Night Ranger and Damn Yankee Jack Blades has had a lucrative posteighties career. A capable tunesmith in the industry, Blades has penned material for Aerosmith, Roger Daltrey, and Cher, as well as a reunited Night Ranger and a record with frequent collaborator Tommy Shaw. A great many aging rockers put out solo albums for all the wrong reasonsmoney, midlife crisis', a misguided sentiment of fan obligationbut a select few do it simply for the love of music. Jack Blades belongs in the latter category, and the eleven surprisingly solid tracks on his selftitled debut are a welcome surprise. Opening with the bright, melodic "Shine On," Blades unleashes an arsenal of hairmetal soldiersShaw, Neil Schon, Great White's Michael Lardie, Warren De Martini of Ratt, and his former Night Ranger cohorts Kelly Keagy, Brad Gillis and Jeff Watsonto flesh out brutal rockers, "We are the Ones," powerballads "Alone Tonight", and rock anthems "To Touch the Sky," w...ith supreme poprock acumen. Schon is instantly recognizable on the opening notes of "Sea Of Emotions", and Blades does a convincing Steve Perry on a track that wouldn't have seemed out of place on Journey's Escape. However, the veteran's not content with simply recreating his heydays. "Sometimes You Gotta Have Faith" utilizes the sunny bounce of Sublime, while the beautiful Breaking it down, cowritten with son Colin, could've been an ELO song. The beatlesque leanings and acoustic arrangements lend themselves well to his voice, and his harmonies with Shaw are syrupy sweet. Blades has crafted a record without pretension, starcrossed ambition, or irony, and that alone is worth paying attention to. While by no means groundbreaking or spectacular, Jack Blades is a mirror image of its' creatortenacious, capable, and enamored with all things musical. - James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide Read more Less