Artist: Blue Murder
Label: Geffen
Release Date: 1989
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: Blue Murder Artist: Blue Murder Label: Geffen Release Date: 1989
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
Looking at the back cover, one would expect this record to be another platter of late 80's ass-rock, big hair and all. Ah, my child, do not be deceived by the cheesy pirate costumes. Blue Murder, featuring the Holy Trinity of John Sykes, Carmine Appice, and Tony Franklin, is one kick-ass disk. Sure, the record has that 80's feel with the buzzsaw guitar riffs and tear-jerker ballads, but even the slow tunes have balls. The album is very melodic, but the fat guitar sound, razor-sharp leads, and effective use of keyboard layering keeps it from having an overtly "pop" feel to it. In fact, the record blends melody and heavy rhythms in a way I've never heard before. This album is hard to categorize in an 80's medium: it's too heavy to be pop but not fast enough to be speed. It's just melodic metal, done the Sykes way. John Sykes has always been a criminally underrated musician. He does a great job of taking melodic ideas, powerhouse riffing, and expressive lead work and combining them into epic song arrangements (Whitesnake's "Still of the Night" and "Crying In The Rain" are testaments to that). Every solo on Blue Murder is an event in itself, a marriage of flash and class. Hell, Sykes even sings better than half the screamers who do half the work he does.
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