The Dead Daisies’ ‘Radiance’: Hard Rock Done Right

Photo+from+Apple+Music

Photo from Apple Music

Mike Singer, Music Manager

It’s time to face your fears with the newest record from the hard rock group, The Dead Daisies.

 On Sept. 30, the band, which consists of Brian Tichy on drums, Doug Aldrich and Dave Lowy on guitars, with “The Voice Of Rock” Glenn Hughes on bass and lead vocals released their seventh record.

 There’s a reason that Hughes is called “The Voice Of Rock,” that’s because his voice is absolutely stunning and it amazes me that after years of touring and making records his voice has held up this much and has aged like a fine wine.

 Hughes’ voice meshes so well with Dave Lowy and former Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich’s tone that it becomes the perfect hard rock record that has fans soaking every minute of the 37-minute record up.

 Radiance is absolutely the heaviest record from The Dead Daisies,” Aldrich said while talking to BraveWords. “Cascade” for example. That beginning riff could be a Black Sabbath riff. “That’s a Glenn riff right there.”

 Right off the bat, the band jumps into “Face Your Fear,” as the opening track and it is arguably my favorite song off the record. The vibe of the lyrics as Hughes sings “in the moving vibration your mind won’t sleep,” which is met with a hard rock-in-your-face bass riff from the frontman which is then matched with Aldrich and Lowy makes this four-minute track the perfect opening to a guns blazing record.

 The following track, “Hypnotize Yourself” is just as heavy as the opening track but is backed with a straightforward beat by Tichy on the drums as he keeps the groove down. This is another song that I enjoyed and added this song to my regular rotation playlist on Apple Music (because Apple Music is the superior streaming platform).

 The fourth song on the record, “Radiance,” could be something from a metal band, that’s how heavy of a song it is. Lowy and Aldrich lay the law down with heavy guitar riffs throughout the entire four-minute song which also can be thrown into the pool of hard rock which reminds me of something that would come out of the ‘80s when bands would find their hard rock sound and make it their own.

 They say talk is cheap but the fifth track, “Kiss The Sun,” contains a dirty talkbox riff which is personally something that I greatly enjoy and is missing from a lot of the rock records that are put out today. It was extremely refreshing to hear a talkbox on a hard rock record, it’s almost as if the talkbox is forgotten about or ignored when it comes to making records.

 As mentioned before, the eighth track, “Cascade” is something that could have come out during the heyday of Black Sabbath or Deep Purple both groups which Hughes has recorded with. Needless to say, this song rocks. It’s being compared to Sabbath or Deep Purple for crying out loud.

 The tenth and final song, “Roll On,” isn’t in your face, hard rock and roll. It’s a softer, acoustic guitar song. I wouldn’t count it as a ballad, not quite. It’s a softer hard rock song which is a perfect way to end the record. It’s slower, not upbeat, and just a creative way to end the record. Most times you see a ballad thrown into the middle of a record, this record has the ballad at the end which I enjoyed because it doesn’t break up the rhythm of the hard rock theme of the record, it sounds like it was meant for the end of the record to tie everything together.

 To sum it all up, I really enjoyed this record, The Dead Daisies are consistently great, and I always enjoy listening to them so there is rarely a disappointment.

 As always, here are The Singer’s Thoughts:

  1. The Dead Daisies have been rooted in hard rock, with former members like Dizzy Reed and Richard Fortus of Guns N’ Roses and John Corabi of Scream and Motley Crue, The Dead Daisies have the blueprint for many great hard rock records to come.
  2. Glenn Hughes is called “The Voice Of Rock” for a reason, his range is spectacular and we witnessed it on this record, so there is no turning back, use it to the band’s advantage and they shouldn’t be afraid to try to experiment with songs
  3. Tour more often in the US! This one is a bit personal because, by the time I moved back into school, I missed The Dead Daisies one and only show that was close to me, in Vineland, New Jersey, and they played only a handful of US shows before they ended their US leg and left for the European leg of this tour which starts on Dec. 3. Play more shows across the United States and fans will come (preferably in Connecticut please!)

 

 

Overall grade: 8/10