Label: Manhaton Records
Review by Martien Koolen
The 4th album of Scottish blues rockers King King is called Exile & Grace and musically speaking it is rather different, read rockier, than their other three albums; they "abandoned" the blues, but they stayed true to the essential King King sound. On this album, featuring 9 songs, you can hear influences from notorious bands like Bad Company, The Free, The Faces, The Rolling Stones and even Thunder. Just listen to the fabulous opener (She Don't) Gimme No Lovin', which features a lovely guitar solo and a very catchy chorus, and you might think that you are listening to Thunder's Backstreet Symphony album; but not really of course. Other musical highlights are Heed The Warning, Tear It All Up and I Don't Wanna Lie; all featuring catchy melodies, "mean" guitar solos and nice guitar hooks and riffs. In fact the entire album is a good mix of soulful vocals, excellent guitar playing, exquisite keyboards passages, a solid rhythm section and great song material. Exile & Grace has an underlying theme, as according to Alan Nimmo the main songs are about the state of the world. Exile & Grace also features a bonus cover, being Whitesnakeís Give Me All Your Love; again, although I loathe covers, an excellent track on a more than excellent album. Play it loud and I am looking forward to hear certain new songs live as some songs are destined to turn into a jam in a live setting!
No comments:
Post a Comment