Back in the late ’80s, the days before all the chaos of the internet took over the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music scene, Hollywood’s Sunset Strip was thriving with Rock-n-Roll and Glam Metal in an exciting way. Around the time when Guns N’ Roses was climbing to the top of the charts and finding their own voice, another comparable band called Love/Hate was striving for the same goals yet did not quite reach the same conclusion.
Vocalist Jizzy Pearl to this day is one-of-a-kind with his gritty, bluesy vocals and is most recognized for his work on the Love/Hate album Blackout in the Red Room, which is full of fun lyrical tales of the Sunset Strip party daze – which Jizzy took full participation in along with the other iconic vocalists of the era including Axl Rose, David Bowie, and Taime Downe.
As modern day 2018 is making its full impact, Jizzy Pearl’s latest project is a solo album called All You Need Is Soul that is 4th in line under his solo releases and the first to be under Frontier Records. As the Friday, May 11th, 2018 release peaks its head around the corner, fans can acknowledge the forthcoming with a sense of pride as well as satisfaction. For those specially dedicated Love/Hate fans, this album can be a charming modern edition to the collective works Pearl has created over the years with the help of his bandmates who, on this latest album, consist of Darren Housholder on guitars, Mark Dutton on bass, and Dave Moreno on drums.
The album All You Need Is Soul features twelve fairly diverse tracks averaging three minutes in length with the longest track, “When The Devil Comes,” bringing it home at six and a half minutes long to some of the most Southern-style, bluesy Hard Rock the album carries. The song is a nice diversion from the normal, yet it is very basic in concept and is reminiscent of many other artists with similar stylings. Pearl is the light of day when it comes to standing out among the songs, yet some of the guitar solo work on a few songs – such as the title-track and the finale, “Mr. Jimmy” – add to the creative spark of understanding as well.
The opening song “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” is a catchy, marketable tune filled with that squeaky-clean guitar riffing and consistent energetic drumming. The core of the album’s focus seems to be on getting those crafty riffs to push along the vocal tale in as electrifying and vibrant way as possible, as is apparent in the tunes “Mortified” and “Frustrated,” which spark deep-seeded emotions as the titles suggest. As another catchy hit with those bluesy overtones, the track “You Don’t Know What It’s Like” plays out as a good, modern relatable movement that blends nicely into the somber break-up ballad-type tale found with “It Doesn’t Matter.”
Additionally, one of the most underrated tracks on the album is “Little Treasures,” simply because it has a vintage vibe that carries a modern structure. As mentioned, the final tune, “Mr. Jimmy,” seems to possess the toughest, most youthful qualities, and most purposeful guitar parts as well. That in mind, it rounds out a strong collection of tunes on a high note.
For those that lived through the late ’80s and early ’90s immersed in the Sunset Strip life and somehow missed out on a Jizzy Pearl encounter, it is not too late to familiarize yourself with his whole catalog as there is sure to be a sparked interest along the way. All You Need Is Soul is a welcome and refreshing addition to the works of Jizzy Pearl and speaks to a modern audience with energetic promise. To see a man of sixty-years keep to his hard rocking roots and defy aging should be a motivator to all those in the craft. His tour is coming soon as well so be sure to catch it live to really appreciate the essence in its finest format. For various reasons, CrypticRock gives solo All You Need Is Soul 4 out of 5 stars.
Purchase All You Need Is Soul:
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