Decided to revisit it tonight with Sykes passing.
1. Riot - Decent song. Why is everything DRENCHED in reverb?? The guitars sound small and weak due to all the reverb. The bass player overplays everything, and the fretless bass makes the overplaying jump out even more. Can't tell if I don't like Carmine's drum sound, or just what he's playing.
2. Sex Child. Is that bass tapping??? Ugh. Guitar once again sounds tiny and drenched in reverb. The lyrics/melody here are absolutely terrible, which is a shame because the music is great and I bet Coverdale and Sykes together could have done something with it. Recycled the transition to the bridge from Still of the Night. Killer solo.
3. Valley of the Kings. Tony Martin from Black Sabbath wrote this during his ten minutes with the band, and it sounds exactly like something from Martin-era Sabbath. Sykes is obviously doing all of Martin's phrasing and runs. Releasing this as a single sank the band with MTV, and I'm not surprised. It's an interesting song, but it's not a single and needs a better singer and a bass player that doesn't just play notes that sound like straight up farts throughout.
4. Jelly Roll. If Coverdale had sang this, it would have been better than most of what was on SOTT. Sykes can technically sing but his voice doesn't have enough personality. Chorus doesn't really feel like a chorus. The song is almost over when it gets to the "love can break your heart" part, which is way more chorus-y. And again, the bass player should have been fired for overplaying all over the place.... what the fuck is he doing during the bridge??? Can't believe Bob Rock of all people didn't say "play a p-bass with frets on it and play the fucking root note when the singer is singing."
5. Blue Murder. Killer riff! Not much of a song, but there's an awesome solo. That kinda sums up the record actually.
6. Out of Love. Okay, we've hit the ballad. The fretless bass is appropriate here. Sykes is doing those "Is This Love" harmony lines and they sound divine. Once again. was there a chorus here? This album is like that episode of the Sopranos where the engineer gets pissed because band's the choruses are just more verses. Nice solo.
7. Billy. Kinda sounds like a mix of Thin Lizzy and Skid Row. Has some cool and interesting parts.... one of the better songs. The farty fretless bass being given equal space to the guitar is seriously this record's downfall.
8. Ptolemy. This riff sucks. How is the song 6-and-a-half minutes????? This is Sykes "Judgement Day."
9. Black-Hearted Woman. Fast riff time! Shitty Dokken wannabe song, complete with a George Lynch-wannabe solo.
Okay, that was a SLOG to get through. In summary: there are no songs and the production is AWFUL. Comparing this to Dr. Feelgood, which Bob Rock also did in 1989, makes Blue Murder sound like a cheap demo. The original lineup with Ray Gillin/Tony Martin and Cozy Powell would have been an improvement, but there is no saving these songs.
