• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

March 2025

• W.E.T.: Apex
• Alliance: Before Our Eyes
• Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
• Phil X & The Drills:
  Pow! Right In The Kisser
• IQ: Dominion
• Heart Line: Falling Heaven
• Gotthard: Stereo Crush
• Defender: Dying To Live
• Streetlight: Night Vision

February 2025

• Robin McAuley: Soulbound
• Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
• Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
• Mantric Momentum: Alienized
• Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
• Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
• Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
• Dream Theater: Parasomnia
• Tyran: Tyran's Oath
• Saber: Lost In Flames

January 2025

• Wildness: Avenger
• The Ferrymen: Iron Will
• Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
• Bonfire: Higher Ground
• The Big Deal: Electrified
• Landfall: Wide Open Sky

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

[ More Music Reviews ]

Blades, Jack: Rock 'n' Roll Ride

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

4.5/5.0

Website Facebook
Frontiers Records
by Craig Hartranft,  03.12.2012

Jack Blades needs little introduction. From his stints with Night Ranger and Damn Yankees to collaborations with the likes Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Journey, Ozzy Osbourne, among others, Blades is an excellent and proficient songwriter, singer and bass player. Now on the heels of Night Ranger's latest Somewhere in California, Blades offers his second solo effort, Rock 'n' Roll Ride.

Above, Jack Blades: still sharp.

Cutting to the chase: Rock 'n' Roll Ride is a great album, with every song a good one. Many of these tunes could have been on the latest Night Ranger album. (Several members give Jack a hand here.) But having them here is like having a double shot of your favorite single malt Scotch.

There's some big crunchy rockers with Back in the Game and the title cut. Some motivational inspiration on Don't Give Up and Rise and Shine. Hey Now offers classic Shaw/Blades acoustic groove. The dreamy, Beatlesque, West Hollywood was penned with Cheap Trick's Robin Zander. Hardest Word to Say and Anything for You are AOR melodic rock magic; the former more a ballad, the latter with a beautiful vocal arrangment. The big anthems are the amazing Love Life and Born for This, the top tracks here.

Frankly, though I prefer some songs over others, Jack Blades' Rock 'n' Roll Ride is all good, a great ride. Blades is still sharp. Strongly recommended.

Jack Blades' Rock 'n' Roll Ride is all good, a great ride. Blades is still sharp. Strongly recommended.

Alphabetical Index

After a brief three year absence from the studio, Swedish rockers Perfect Plan return with their fourth long player, Heart Of A Plan. This arrives after their vocalist, Kent Hilli, has been involved in a few other projects ... [ Read More ]