Tag: napalm records

Alter Bridge – ‘Pawns & Kings’ Review

Pawns and Kings is the most complete, consistently thunderous anthemic Alter Bridge album to date

Most of my musical heroes are either dead / in their 70s/ no longer active. Very few bands formed this century get into my list. The main ones that I adore are Alter Bridge, Coheed and Cambria and Rival Sons. Not only are my heroes as mentioned, very few are ready to take the crown and become headliners at the likes of Download etc. Out of these 3, AB are in the best position for taking the next step upwards, especially now.

I have been a fan of Alter Bridge ever since I heard them on Orlando Rock Radio back in 2004. I have attended an Alter Bridge gig on every tour at least once. I think I’m up to about 18 gigs. I would like to think that I have earned the right to have an opinion on their music. Remember reader, opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one. It is my opinion that the Top 3 Alter Bridge albums are as follows….

  1. Blackbird
  2. Fortress
  3. ABIII

Alter Bridge have been making great and good albums, but nothing after Fortress has come close to breaking into my Top 3…..until now!

‘Pawns and Kings’ is the bands 7th studio album, and by Christ, is it a cracker. At just 10 songs long, the guys have literally gone straight for the jugular. Think of the best of Myles Kennedys solo work and smash it with Tremonti’s knack for a spleen-busting riff, together with the Prince Of Pound (Philips) and the testicle moving, pummelling bass of Marshall and its 10 songs of pure God and Thunder. ‘This is War’ is the best opener to an album that AB have ever done – Myles never sounded better, and there’s almost a Carmina Burana chant that will go down a storm when played live. I honestly think Tremonti has a riff for every occasion (weddings (yup), funeral (gotcha!), Bar Mitzvah (yes indeed). He has the best riffs this side of Tony Iommi’s moustache!!!

Alter Bridge have gone big and long on a few tracks, and all deliver in spades with the anthem ‘Sin After Sin’; ‘Fable of the Silent Son’ is a ‘Children of the Sea’ for the modern era, and the title track is the sister companion to Kennedy’s ‘The Ides of March’.

To be honest here, there is not an average number or plodder on the album. ‘Silver Tongue’ shows why it was picked as a single/appetite whetter for Pawns, as it combines the best AB bits rolled into one song. ‘Stay’ is where Tremonti takes the lead on vocals and is now becoming a staple to have a song from the metal crooner and correctly so. In fact he is continuing to get better with each AB/Tremonti/Sinatra album, and it is closest thing to a melodic rock song as AB will ever get. 

To follow on from a couple of earlier points, I am convinced that after half a dozen listens to Pawns & Kings that this album will probably knock ‘Blackbird’ off its coveted No.1 spot (steady on! Editor). With regards to upping the level to festival headliner, if AB don’t get the breaks after this album, I have no idea what they are supposed to do. This album is next level.

P&K is that strong, every single song on this could make it into the live set. It is the most complete, consistently thunderous, anthemic album to date and for that I have to applaud the guys as they could easily have gone for ‘okay’ but have instead set a level that in 2022 (and 2023) other bands have to meet. It will be in many a Top 5 list come the next few weeks, mine included.

9/10

Tracklisting –

This Is War

Dead Among The Living

Silver Tongue

Sin After Sin

Stay

Holiday

Fable Of The Silent Son

Season Of Promise

Last Man Standing

Pawns & Kings

Myles Kennedy – ‘The Ides Of March’ review

belting sophomore solo album from Kennedy ticks all the right boxes. Its the album I’ve been waiting for.

I read an interview with Myles Kennedy in the latest Classic Rock mag and he states ‘I’m not a household name’. Well fella, I can assure you that you are in the Chesworth household and have been since 2004 when we were listening to rock radio stations whilst on holiday in Florida. Thankfully these stations only play about 15 different songs a week, so it got us all firmly embedded into Alter Bridge in the Summer of ’04.

I was fortunate to interview Brian Marshall back in 2011 and he said Myles had a solo album ready to roll. It was a long time coming. His debut album in 2018 was a tribute to his late father (who passed when Myles was a young child) and was an emotional album and I suspect a very cathartic one for Myles to do. Roll on another 3 years and we have The Ides Of March, which would be even better had it been released in March! Its the kind of album I was expecting  (and hoping for) from him.

‘Get Along’ is a guitar riffin’ foot stompin’ call to arms where he wails ‘I thought we left this shit behind, don’t tell me I don’t belong,….the answer never was black or white’ and typifies the feelings of many in the World today. It certainly rings true with my feelings over the past 14 months. A similar theme continues into ‘A Thousand Words’, where he sings, ‘because in times like these we must live and learn’, his mantra is simple and he comes across as a genuinely caring bloke. The chorus is instantly memorable and encompasses some blisteringly hot guitar work. The slide guitar of ‘In Stride’ shows that its not a straight up rock album, and paints a picture of a survivalist preparing for an impending zombie apocalypse (much nearer than we think considering the events of the past year!) And was inspired by the first lockdown in which people hoarded bog roll and other invaluable items and ingredients. The title track is the big number, and switches between gentle verses, and heavier chorus where Kennedy gives his larynx a decent work out. Its as much a vehicle for his guitar soloing as it is for his vocal dexterity. Were it not bordering on eight minutes, its a perfect title and song for the next Bond movie. If Sheena Easton can get the Bond gig, then Myles is a deserving candidate. 

Both ‘Wake Me When It’s Over’ and ‘Sifting Through The Fire’ border on fillers, only because Kennedy set himself a high bar. ‘Sifting…’reminded me a bit of the Allman Bros ‘Jessica’. But its on ‘Love Rain Down’ is a mainly acoustic ballad where ‘the voice’ is vulnerable and soul searching. Its a beautiful song. ‘Tell It Like It Is’ is the good feel song of the album, with a hand clap, and foot stomping anthem for the masses. I can’t wait, this will be huge played live.  ‘Moonshot’ has one foot planted in the Blues camp, and ‘Wanderlust Begins’ errs on the side of country. Both are cool, with Wanderlust being a companion to Year Of Tiger is tone and style. ‘Worried Mind’ is the most straight up blues song on ‘TIOM’. If you think that its standard fare, that is quickly dispelled thanks to some shred-tactic guitar playing and tonsel tickling vocal histrionics. Thats how you finish the album off. Fantastic.

As I said at the top, TIOM is the album I wanted it to be, and more. ‘Year Of The Tiger’ had to grow on me because there was little variance in the style, but this one gave me more of an instant ‘fix’. Theres more than enough light and shade and variety to keep even the most pessimistic  fan occupied. As an ardent fan, its a little belter.

9/10

Tracklisting

Get Along

A Thousand Words

In Stride

The Ides Of March

Wake Me When Its Over

Love Rain Down

Tell It Like It Is

Moonshot

Wanderlust Begins

Sifting Through The Fire

Worried Mind

Myles Kennedy – Vocals, Guitar

Tim Tournier – Bass

Zia Uddin – Drums

Out May 14th https://smarturl.it/MK-TheIdesOfMarch