|
The first two things I’m going to say about this release are ‘what took
you so long’ and ‘why make it so short?’. For those of you who don’t know
who Johnny Lima is then let me enlighten you. Hailing from California
this is Johnny’s third album as a solo artist. And wow what an album!
Yeh so it’s a little shorter than I would have liked but I suppose
Johnny’s one of these artists that prefers to put out a top notch album
jammed packed with high quality, catchy songs, than to add another 10
minutes of sub-standard ‘fillers’.
Hard rock where needed, blended beautifully with just enough pop rock
ballads to keep it safe and mainstream, this album might not be packed
with any huge surprises as far as AOR goes, but if you like that type of
music then it’s certainly one worth checking out.
In all honestly you could quite easily pluck any one of the tracks off
this album and stick it out over the mainstream airwaves and I doubt you’d
get anyone complaining. Quite the opposite in fact, especially if it was
one of the power ballads. I think the switchboard would be buzzing within
minutes with people phoning in asking what the name of this new Bon Jovi
single was so they could go out and buy it.
Only where in my humble opinion I think for a large part Bon Jovi have
somewhat lost the plot with their last few releases, Johnny Lima delivers
the goods by the bucketload. It’s hard to believe that such a juicy
offering has been created by just one man. Are you really telling me he
did this all on his own? What no backing band? Really? All on his own
eh? Well blow me.
How come this one chap manages to achieve a sound that the huge stadium
rock legends fail so miserably to do? With such talented individuals as
Mr Lima about these giants of rock really should sit up and start to get
worried about just how much longer their shelf life might be. Nobody
wants to look like a washed up has been do they?
Let’s take a look at the songs and see just what it is that makes ‘Made in
California’ such a gem. Opening up with some good strong guitar riffs
balanced beautifully against a backdrop of gentle keyboards, we have the
title track ‘Made in California’. Powerful vocals and a catchy song with
somewhat tongue in cheek lyrics guaranteed to plant a grin on your face
from the very first listen.
The next track ‘Best night of my Life’ straddles it’s sound between Bon
Jovi type vocals over a Def Leppard catchy melodic tune that’s not too
full on, but interesting enough to have you singing along with it.
Now comes up my favourite track off the whole album, ‘The Chosen One’.
Call me crazy but right from the first listen I thought ‘WOW!!!’, just
listen to those lyrics. I’d love to hear this song covered by Jorn or
even the once mighty Metallica. Although it’s one of the most powerful
songs on the album, I’d really love to hear it with loud wild guitars and
growling vocals. This song is so metal in sheep’s clothing I can’t
believe it. Johnny’s not let this baby loose. Listen to it; imagine it
harder, meaner, snarling and frothing at the mouth like a wild beast. Oh
yeh, this song has so much potential, ‘Enter Sandman’ part 2! I can
almost see the fans giving it horns as I listen to it, and yes, you could
almost headband along to it!
‘We’ve got Tonight’ and ‘Something About You’ again scream Bon Jovi to
you. Johnny’s voice does in fact sound not a million miles away from that
of Jon’s and he seems to carry that vocal range so well both as lead and
backing singer.
Def Leppard fans will instantly fall in love with ‘Love ain’t Enough’ and
‘Another Girl’. Both catchy up tempo tunes with great sing-along chorus’s
that lift the mood without intruding.
What with all the pop/punk bands out there like Blink 182 and Sum 41 doing
the rounds, Johnny’s cover version of The Beatles classic ‘Help’ might
just help tempt a bit of new young blood into the fold.
Closing off with ‘Welcome to my Paradise’ I can’t help suspect Johnny
enjoys doing the mean and moodier tracks as much as the softer melodic
songs. I like this song, not because it’s particularly strong, but more
for the tempo changes and mood swings it embraces.
Bottom line – if you like classic melodic rock a la’ Def Leppard and Bon
Jovi, then give this album a listen. It really is rare these days that
you can listen to an album so packed with clichés and not feel like you
need to brush your teeth because it’s too sticky sweet. This is top notch
and deserves to be heard in a lot bigger circles than the once a month AOR
rock nights up and down the country. So go hunt it out and give it a
listen, you never know you might just enjoy it.
One of the best album covers I have come across over the years, simple and
yet very effective. This album deserves to win an award for best album
cover of the year if nothing else. Give them a try!
|