Reviews roundup – Pacific Mambo Orchestra vs. Little Texas vs. Edenial vs. Peter Novelli vs. Atkins May Project

Reviews roundup – Pacific Mambo Orchestra vs. Little Texas vs. Edenial vs. Peter Novelli vs. Atkins May Project

PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA
Pacific Mambo Dance
independent

The surprise winners of a Grammy in 2013 for Best Tropical Latin Album, this single sees the return of the Pacific Mambo Orchestra.  In case you missed that, the orchestra uses the traditions of the classic mambo-craze orchestras of the 1950s to deliver their original music through the medium of a 20 piece musical group.

And this is really, really good.  If you have the slightest yen for the likes of Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez, then you’ll want to snap up this dance anthem, as they mix up their Latin sounds with big band swing for an utterly joyous single.  One of the cheeriest three minutes I’ve heard in a long, long time.

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LITTLE TEXAS
Young For A Long Time
Cleopatra

Time for some country music now, and those of you who know me from my universally lauded Rockin’ The Country radio show on www.getreadytorockradio.com won’t be surprised to learn that this was right up my street.

Little Texas has sold over 7 million albums since their debut in 1992, earned 3 Grammy nominations, won a CMA Album Of The Year award and now with “Young For A Long Time”, they’ve released their first new album since 2007.  And I’m glad to say that it sounds exactly how you would want a Little Texas album to sound.

So that’s some catchy country with gritty guitars and some entertaining lyrics.  They’ve still got original members Duane Propes, Dwayne O’Brien, Del Gray, and Porter Howell on vocals and sound just as good as they did first time around.  As well as the expected uptempo country grooves like ‘Why I Brought My Boots’ and ‘Rednecks Do Exist’, they’ve also thrown in a heart-rending tribute to a fallen soldier on ‘Slow Ride Home’, a song that will resonate across small town America.

It’s a great return to form and even includes two bonus tracks in the shape of brand new recordings of the band’s biggest hit singles, ‘What Might Have Been,’ and ‘God Blessed Texas.’

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EDENIAL
Innerpretations
independent

A moment of metal now, and to prove that metal is the universal language, we’re off to Chile. Yes, Chile, with the second album from Edenial.

And it’s certainly an interesting one.  Initially, you think it’s just going to be another female fronted metal release, but there is a lot more going on here, as they mix up so many strands of metal from thrash to power metal and beyond.  They’ve managed to get some money together for this indie release, as it’s been mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, a man who has mastered 16 Grammy Award winners.  So it sounds good.

The thrash vibe is the dominant one on songs like ‘Soul Echo’ but they give good ballad on ‘Ni En Mil Anos’ and turn in a classic slice of melodic metal on ‘Red Rum’.  There isn’t a bum note to be heard, and if you want something a wee bit different for your next dose of metal, then give this a try.

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PETER NOVELLI
St. Amant Sessions
independent

Damn right, I’ve got the blues and here’s the third album from New Orleans based Peter Novelli.  And you can tell that his take on the blues is influenced by location, when you read the credits and see Cajun accordionist Sammy Naquin on a couple of tracks and zydeco accordion star Chubby Carrier on a further two songs.

And there are plenty of down South influences on some cracking tunes like ‘Louisiana Sunrise’ and ‘Bourbon Street Blue’, with some Tony Joe White styled licks popping up on ‘Spirit Passing By’.  Mr Novelli himself is a whizz on the guitar which explains the presence of a few instrumentals, the best of which is ‘I-10 Boogie’.

There are some French lyrics in amongst the vocal tracks including ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ and the Cajun influence is really to the fore on ‘Zydeco Ride’ featuring the aforementioned Chubby Carrier.  It’s a great album for those who like their blues really spicy.

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ATKINS MAY PROJECT
Anthology
Gonzo

A best of from the Atkins May project featuring one-time Judas Priest vocalist Al Atkins alongside guitarist Paul May.  The latter is a fine guitarist and we’ve reviewed their work in these pages.

With three Gonzo albums under their belt, they’ve decided it’s time for a best of, which is pushing it a bit, to be fair.  However, there might be some people out there who’ll take a chance on this, especially as it comes with a DVD featuring 7 songs and an interview from their last release “Empire Of Destruction”.

Annoyingly, for those who did buy the first three albums, this comes with the obligatory bonus track.  Damn it. Musically, the Atkins May Project are firmly in the power metal camp, as you would expect from someone who co-wrote some early Priest classics like ‘Never Satisfied’ and ‘Victim of Changes’.  There are some cracking tune here with ‘Serpents Kiss’ and ‘Empire Of Destruction’  The aforementioned bonus track is a metallic take on the Phil Collins hit ‘In The Air Tonight’, which works in a dark, cinematic manner.

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