Lynch Mob
(Elektra) 1992George Lynch/Lynch Mob
Lynch Mob
(Elektra) 1992
1. "Jungle of Love"
(3:48)
2. "Tangled in the Web" (4:39)
3. "No God" (4:16)
4. "Dream Until Tomorrow" (6:07)
5. "Cold Is the Heart" (5:25)
6. "Tie Your Mother Down" (3:48)
7. "Heaven If Waiting" (3:52)
8. "I Want It" (4:48)
9. "When Darkness Calls" (5:25)
10. "The Secret" (5:07)
About three quarters of this album is excellent bluesy heavy metal, not unlike Badlands. The other portion is slick AOR and radio ready ballads not unlike Lynch's former band Dokken. The first three tracks are quite impressive in the aforementioned blues rock style. While Lynch's guitar playing is impressive, it's actually Robert Mason's vocal performance that steals the show. He has a slight grit to his voice that works quite well with the bluesier numbers yet he is still smooth enough to pull of the more commercial numbers as well. It's not until track four that any resemblance to Dokken is heard. "Dream Until Tomorrow" is a slow, ready made radio ballad and is one of the least impressive songs on the disc. A classy, slick cover of Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" is also included. Overall, a surprisingly good album.
George Lynch - Sacred Groove (Elektra) 1993
1. "Memory Jack"
[instrumental] (1:38)
2. "Love Power from the Mama Head" [instrumental] (5:27)
3. "Flesh and Blood" (4:59)
4. "We Don't Own This World" (4:25)
5. "I Will Remember" [instrumental] (4:16)
6. "The Beast, Pt. 1" (6:52)
7. "The Beast (Pt. II, Addiction to the Friction)" (2:47)
8. "Not Necessary Evil" (5:13)
9. "Cry of the Brave" (5:06)
10. "Tierra del Fuego" [instrumental] (6:03)
Yes, I know, all those who have emailed me in the past, chastising me for not having a Dokken collection are falling over in their chairs right now. So, why would a guy who is not a huge Dokken fan care about a solo album from Dokken's guitarist? Well, to be quite honest, it's for the awesome vocalists that George uses on this disc including Ray Gillen (Badlands) and Glen Hughes. Besides, this disc absolutely annihilates from beginning to end. Some of the material is in the Satriani/Vai school of shred guitar instrumentals. The other songs would probably fall into the melodic metal/AOR label. Overall, the album is a good listen all the way through. Both the instrumental and the songs with vocals are very enjoyable. Of course having legends like Gillen and Hughes singing for you helps quite a bit, but the songwriting is quite good as well. Must also add, this disc sounds nothing like Dokken.
Lynch/Pilson - Wicked Underground (Spitfire Records) 2003
1. "Breath and a Scream"
(6:10)
2. "Beast in the Box" (4:10)
3. "When You Bleed" (4:27)
4. "Vaccine" (4:48)
5. "Ever Higher" (5:34)
6. "Zero the End" (4:17)
7. "The Evil that You Are" (4:19)
8. "Awaken" (3:59)
9. "Cromanic" [instrumental] (5:01)
10. "Goodbye Utopia" (4:33)
11. "Inner View" (2:48)
12. "Closer to None" (4:56)
Well, this CD is almost more of a Dokken CD than some of the more modern Dokken CDs themselves. "Wicked Underground" reunited two of Dokken's founding members, who also happen to be two of the band's songwriters as well. I am sure at the announcement of this formation that Dokken fans were foaming at the mouth. I certainly remember reading all the hype on-line about it. Unforunately you aren't going to find any songs like "In My Dreams", "Into the Fire" or "Alone Again" on here. What this CD succeeds in doing is marrying the classic melodic rock sound with some modern leanings. Several times when listening to this CD I was reminded of some of John Sykes solo material, mixing suberb guitar solos over melodic hard rock. Even Pilson's vocals reminded me of Sykes from time to time. I know the man can sing. I've seen Dokken several times over the years and a few of those times Pilson was outsinging Don. Unfortunately, however, his vocals don't save this disc as the songs are almost forgettable. It's not that this is a bad disc, but that it just doesn't have the hooks or even come close to matching up to those classic Dokken CDs, or even the first two Lynch Mob albums for that matter. One other slight disappointment was the drums sound which is either triggered or programmed. It's very noticable in the snare fills, especially in the instrumental when the drums stand out a bit more. This isn't a real big deal, but I thought it worth mentioning since it only added to my disappointment. George Lynch and Jeff Pilson are very talented musicians and songwriters, and they certainly are given plenty of room to show off here, but unfortunately this disc is more a collector's item for Dokken die-hards than anything that will see serious spin time.