The week ahead.

Well I've finally got over last weeks fiasco and am ready to embrace the week ahead..

This week I'll be shooting "Girls with guitars" which is every mans dream followed by another female shoot for GB Promotions on the weekend... In short this week is going to be full of beautiful women so for the most part I will be smiling..

No more weeks like last week please.

Well that was a terrible week on the gig front.. Mix-up Saxons management end meant no pass for the wolves gig.. Tommy Castro gig cancelled because he needed a few days break and passes for tomorrows Magnum gig revoked!!   Such is the life of a gig tog..

This I can live with. but the real kick in the balls is finding out that some retarded tosser that doesn't know one end of the camera from the other and consistently produces blurred images will be shooting at both Saxons and Magnum's gigs...  To say I'm ever so slightly pissed off with things at the moment is an understatement..

Roll on next week..  it has to get better!  doesn't it?

John Waite - Rough & Tumble Review

Right before we start its confession time. I never liked John Waite! I always found his music to be dull, boring, bland etc. the list of negative verbose diarrheic from my POV is endless, but I’m in a pretty good mood so I wont bore you with it. Other than to add that if I had my way his 1982 single “Missing You” would be made illegal and any radio station found guilty of playing it would be nuked!!

By now I suspect that several of you may be wondering why the hell I’m reviewing a CD by someone that I obviously dislike so much? The answer is quite simple. I was kidnapped by aliens and forced to go to go to his gig at the Robin last year and I’m not ashamed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. But in my defence It was quite obvious that here was an artist going through a period of change and finally starting to find his own groove, so when the option to review the “Rough and Tumble” CD came up I jumped at it.

For this cd we have a new writing partnership of Waite and Kyle Cook for most of the tracks and it shows.. In the promo pack we get Waite says that “it’s not what people would expect from me, it’s a step to the left” and for most part he really isn’t kidding.

By the 3rd note of the title track “Rough and Tumble” you’re tapping your feet. It has a great hook that just pulls you along and by the 2nd chorus you’re singing along and the air guitar makes an appearance… damn this is good this is what I wanted to hear.

My hopes for the rest of the cd are soaring and then dashed in an instant.. “Shadows of Love”.. what is this shit?.. noooo 80s regression.. this has to be the worst track on the cd.. it encompasses everything you don’t want to hear in a rock song.. “you go your way, I’ll go mine, but you’re still my girl”.. wtf is this crap? THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANT TO HEAR.. god I thought “Missing You” was bad!! Tip.. might be an idea to skip this track if you’re feeing a little suicidal.. you’ve been warned.

After the above glitch the cd starts to sort it out again.. “Its Evil’s” got a funky kind of groove going on and although the air guitar stays in its case for most part its still enjoyable fare as are most of the 12 tracks. There’s also a cracking cover of Turners “Sweet Rhode Island Red” which gets me up and dancing round the room again with plenty opportunity to once again practice the air guitar.

Now in the promo pack it says that all 12 tracks are single contenders, but I’m not sure. On the whole it’s a damn good cd and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to it over the last week or so but there are 4 tracks that really stand out for me. We have a reworked “Mr Wonderful”, which was originally released on his debut solo album “Ignition”. Then there’s “Rough and Tumble”, “Further The Sky” and the absolutely beautiful last track “Hanging Tree”… yep I said beautiful!! This single track makes you forget the not so good stuff and makes the journey worth while.

For me this CD is a massive improvement on anything that Waite has released before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a shame it has taken him so long to get there but I for one hope that Waite continues down this path of enlightenment.