Reviews roundup – Ronnie James Dio tribute vs. Emmy Rossum vs. The Oak Ridge Boys

Reviews roundup – Ronnie James Dio tribute vs. Emmy Rossum vs. The Oak Ridge Boys
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life
Rhino

Hmmm, This is a tricky one. Obviously, I was a Dio fan, because who wasn’t. And it’s all for a good cause. I hope. But some of it is musically rank. And some of it is years old.

On the plus side, there are some killer versions. ‘Neon Knights’ by Anthrax, ‘The Temple Of The King’ by Scorpions and ‘I’ by Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson and Brian Tichy are astounding. Elsewhere, though, things take a patchy turn with Rob Halford showing us again that it’s time to retire, and Tenacious D reminding us that capital punishment isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Of the old tunes ‘Egypt (The Chains Are On)’ by Doro from the nineties “Holy Dio” album is still splendid, and there are so so turns from Biff Byford & Motorhead and Glenn Hughes. So musically, it’s rather raggle taggle, but if your money helps cure cancer and keeps the name of Ronnie James Dio in the spotlight, then it’s worth a punt.

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EMMY ROSSUM
Sentimental Journey
Warner Bros

I meant to review this last year when it came out, but forget. However, it’s been back near the top of my playlist again recently, so it’s only fair to make up for lost time.

Emmy Rossum is better known as an actress than a singer, although she was the only one to come out of the film version of “The Phantom Of The Opera” with much credit. She currently features on the American version of “Shameless”, as Fiona Gallagher, and has popped up in films like “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Mystic River” and “Beautiful Creatures”.

But away from that she likes to sing and write songs. Now, I really like her voice, but her self penned songs on “Inside Out” didn’t really work for me. So I was delighted when she followed it up with an album of standards. And it’s a real treat, as she turns her attention to the likes of the title track, ‘I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover’, ‘Many Tears Ago’ and ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’.

There’s a New Orleans vibe to the backing with some lovely barrelhouse piano, sympathetic horns and even a banjo. Her voice is a delight, and this is a welcome addition to the large number of old time tunes revisited that we’ve had of late.

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THE OAK RIDGE BOYS
Boys Night Out
Cleopatra

It’s the Oak Ridge Boys! Live in concert! Oh, how I loved them when I was a boy. With me auld Irish mammy being secretary of the Scottish Country Music Fellowship, it was was wall to wall country round my way. It’s never left me, hence why I now have my own country music show on the internet radio. And the Oak Ridge Boys were omnipresent. Heck, I’ve even got William Lee Golden’s solo album on vinyl.

Amazingly enough, this is their first live album. I’m not sure how that happened, or why they left it till they were all pensioners before making one, but I’m certainly glad it’s here. Heck, they’ve managed to punt out six Christmas albums over the years, so this is well overdue. And it’s good. For sure, they can’t hit all the notes they hit back in the day, but when they crank out the hits like ‘You’re The One’, ‘American Made’, ‘Trying To Love Two Women’, ‘Elvira’ and ‘Bobbie Sue’, no-one, least of all me, cares.

The harmonies, however, are still intact, and it’s those moments that get the goosebumps going. I’m not sure how many sales will be added to the 41 million they’ve racked up over the years, but fans of country, gospel and great harmonies should get this ordered sharpish.

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