Another album by The Dead Daisies with yet another lineup change is not exactly going to send news outlets into overdrive, as the world and his dog know the deal with rhythm guitarist David Lowy’s oddball band by now. If you have followed the band since their birth, you will know the family tree. It’s a bloody tall one with past personnel dangling from every branch. And they are at it again with latest opus Light ‘Em Up.
The Dead Daisies – Light ‘Em Up (The Dead Daisies Pty Ltd / SPV)
Release Date: 6 September 2024
Words: Brian Boyle
Thinking the high-profile recruitment of Glenn Hughes was a sign of a band determined to lay down some permanent roots would have been more of a sign that naivety has got the better of you. The Wolverhampton legend has now buggered off, and John Corabi passed him on his way back in.
On his second time around, drummer Brian Tichy lasted just 26 months before being booted out to be replaced by the returning Tommy Clufetos. Fresh meat comes in the form of Michael Devin, who links up again with old Whitesnake buddy Doug Aldrich.
Through all these comings and goings, The Dead Daisies have never released a poor album, and one blast of the foot-to-the-floor title track will immediately make you think that pattern is going to continue.
Radiance and Holy Ground, their last two outings, both with Glenn Hughes, were always going to be hard acts to follow. But the Corabi-fronted version has always produced the goods. Tracks like Times Are Changing and the very acca dacca sounding I’m Gonna Ride are very much on par or as good as anything from the previous marks of the band.
This is John Corabi’s fourth album with the Daisies, and the 65 year old’s rugged pipes are sounding better than ever. To pull off a title like I Wanna Be Your Bitch you really want him to go beyond the norm, and he does, in fact he growls like a horny dog.
Musically, the album is overloaded with power, and when you have a seasoned riffer like Doug Aldrich in your ranks, you cannot really fail. Aldrich lays down the law on Way Back Home and accutane online My Way And The Highway with his own unique and non-manufactured style.
He may not provide the private jet like his axe partner Lowy, but every note Aldrich releases takes flight like a majestic eagle.
New boy Devin makes his presence felt on Take A Long Line with a joyriding bassline that forgot to purchase a set of brake pads. A lot like a circa ’80s Aerosmith in parts, it thunders along with Corabi’s inner Tyler smouldering.
Ballad Love That’ll Never Be lets you up for air and thankfully steers well away from the power route, instead encapsulating a delicately charged country vibe that you won’t stop spinning.
The Dead Daisies do not do thought-provoking or poke at your social conscience, as it just would not suit them. As Southern-drenched closer Take My Soul blasts out of your speakers, you will feel you have been treated to a gold-label chunk of unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll.
God only knows how the band will shape up next time. Welcome to the hotel Dead Daisies. You can leave, but you can never stay.
