Reviews roundup – Rush vs. Slash vs. Bob Wayne vs. The Rusty Wright Band

Reviews roundup – Rush vs. Slash vs. Bob Wayne vs. The Rusty Wright Band

RUSH
Rush In Rio / R30 DVD
Eagle

Time for a couple of Rush DVDs to make a reappearance.  I’m not entirely sure why, but they are very good Rush DVDs, so if you don’t have them, you may as well buy a shiny new copy.

R30 is my favourite.  I remember drooling about it when it first came out, particularly for the second disc.  The first one was filmed on Rush s 30th Anniversary tour in 2004 at the Festhalle in Frankfurt. I saw them on that tour and they were in fine fettle, especially in the first half of the show.  But it was the second disc which was a real treat, with vintage interviews and news features, alongside some early live footage, ranging from 1975 onwards.  For me, it’s still my favourite Rush DVD, but if you bought the R40 box set last year. then you’ve got it already.

Two years earlier, and Rush were at the Maracanã football stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, touring the “Vapor Trails” album.  They’d been off the scene for a while, as Neil Peart dealt with his personal traumas, and if you prefer the later music of Rush, then you’ll enjoy this. I wasn’t a fan of this tour as a lot of the songs pass me by, but it’s filmed and produced well, so top marks for that.  The second disc is a bit skimpy, with a behind the scenes documentary and some multi-angle versions of three songs from the main disc.  Cruelly, they also throw in an animation of ‘By-Tor And The Snow Dog’ as well as a 1975 performance of ‘Anthem’.  And for people with nothing better to do, there’s even some Easter eggs.

R30 – BUY AT AMAZON
Rush In Rio – BUY AT AMAZON

SLASH
Live At The Roxy 25/9/14
Eagle

It was nice of Slash to put on a show on what would have been my Mums 85th birthday.  She hated Guns n’ Roses, so she would have hated this DVD and double CD release with a vengeance.

And he’s back where it all began, tearing up a club on the Sunset Strip in the company of Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators.  Slash seems to have settled for this back up band, which is a bit of a shame, as they’re no match for him or the earlier material.  They were promoting the “World On Fire” album, but no-one cared.  They were there to hear Slash riffing and soloing on as many GnR tracks as possible.

Slash is still the epitome of cool, even if he has filled out a bit from the skinny wee boy I first saw back in 1988, but with ‘Nightrain’, ‘You Could Be Mine’, ‘Rocket Queen’, ‘You Could Be Mine’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Paradise City’ in the setlist, then it’s worth a listen or a viewing.  He’s never managed to find a new band to push him since the original GnR, and only the Velvet Revolver song ‘Slither’ manages to stand out.

It’s a well filmed DVD and the CD sound is equally good, but I’d personally go for the live album, so you can close your eyes and visualise.  If you do go for the DVD, then you’ll get the extra tracks ‘Stone Blind’, ‘You’re Crazy’, ‘Wicked Stone’ and ’30 Years To Life’.

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BOB WAYNE
Hits The Hits
People Like You Records

I do like a cover versions album.  And I like an outlaw country covers album even more.  Especially, when it’s not self consciously ironic ala Hayseed Dixie.  Because Bob Wayne has made some proper albums, but when it came to this covers set he ranged far and wide, so if you’re looking for Guns N’ Roses nestling up against Meghan Trainor, then this is the place for you.

Thankfully, he’s not went down the dirge route, which was spread out interminably across the Johnny Cash albums, but instead you get Led Zeppelin down the honky tonk, some banjo drenched Guns n’ Roses and a fantastic Mavericks styled take on Megan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass’.

It’s just fun, fun, fun from start to finish, with Bob and his band at the top of their game.  For sure, there are a couple of songs that don’t work, but until you’ve heard a countrified version of ‘Disturbia’, then you haven’t lived.

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THE RUSTY WRIGHT BAND
Wonder Man
Sadson

And we’ll finish up today with some blues rock from Michigan outfit, the Rusty Wright Band.

It’s their fifth band, and it’s basically blues rock with a southern twist, which makes it right up my street.  The opening number and title track actually doesn’t do them justice, as it left me kind of cold, but once they got into the body of the album, it turned into a rerr wee treat.

When they up the amps and roar into ‘Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman’ and ‘Black Hat Boogie’ then I’m a very happy man indeed, with the rock side brought back to the blues with some great slide work.  He’s got a good band behind him with Laurie LaCross-Wright on guitar and vocal, Dennis Bellinger on bass and vocal, Robert John Manzitti on keys and Marc Friedman on drums putting in a good shift.

When things slow down they lose a wee bit of focus, but a song like ‘Love’s Gonna Treat You Right’ would have been snapped up by radio back in the eighties, without losing any of its juice.  It’s an excellent album and one that blues rock fans should be checking out now.

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