Review | The Dead Daisies – Light ’em Up

Steamhammer/SPV

Without a shadow of a doubt The Dead Daisies are one of the hardest working bands on the planet. Founder David Lowy (guitar) just never lets up and always finds great musicians to join him helping the band forward. Lead guitarist Doug Aldrich has been around for a while now while drummer Tommy Clufetos recently returned to the line-up, with bass player Michael Devin by his side. Also returning is singer John Corabi who a few years ago quite surprisingly was replaced by Glenn Hughes. The albums that the group made with ‘The Voice Of Rock’ (‘Holy Ground’ and ‘Radiance’) were pretty good, but most people saw these records more as a Glenn Hughes thing and not so much as a The Dead Daisies thing. Not an unlikely thought perhaps….

RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR

With John Corabi back on board the band celebrates the return of the gladiator John Corabi is. On this album ‘Light ‘Em Up’ the singer has brought new energy to the table and the band sounds yet again as they did during the times that albums such as ‘Revolucion’, ‘Make Some Noise’ and ‘Burn It Down’ saw the light of day. Raunchy rock songs, a power house musical performance all around and high energy levels were and are the main ingredients. As is the case on ‘Light ‘Em Up’. It is as if nothing has changed for The Dead Daisies, they just continue where they left off with ‘Burn It Down’.

NO-NONSENSE APPROACH

With their no-nonsense approach being (especially) displayed on their first four songs of the album it seems like this kind of stuff just comes natural to the band. Solid rhythms, big hooks, flashy solos, up-tempo and kick ass playing and Corabi who feels like a fish in the water, being back in his old stomping ground, doing what he does best connecting people to the bands relentless hard rock and roll. In fact the whole album with the exception of the slightly disappointing ballad ,,Love That’ll Never Be’’ sounds very relentless, including the cover-version of ,,Take A Long Line’’, originally recorded by the Australian rockers The Angels.

THE DEAD DAISIES – THE CONCLUSION

When you have a critical look at this ten-song album you might find that the group has done very little to add new or other elements to their sound. On the other hand, why should they do such a thing when you know that your strength is playing energetic and kick ass hard rock and roll? If you are a fan of their old albums with Corabi behind the microphone I am sure ‘Light ‘Em Up’ will please you to the core. Personally, I can live very well with this one. It does not add a lot extra to their catalogue, but it is good to hear and feel that John Corabi is back where he should be.

Release date: 6 September 2024