Blue Murder
Nothin' But Trouble

When I found the Japanese version of this mysterious album (since no one had told me about it, I knew there was a sequel, but I didn't even know its name!) I didn't let it slip away: inside me, I said: "Well, even if it's slightly inferior to the previous one, I must have it!". And indeed it was: the blond guitarist John Sykes, now orphaned by his two companions, Franklin and Appice, who left the band in 1990-1991, enlists the cooperation this time of Marco Mendoza on bass, Tommy O' Steen on drums, and Nik Green on keyboards. Nothin' But Trouble, dated 1993, is classy hard rock, but it's much more refined in terms of melody, and it's precisely this aspect that makes it (almost!) as beautiful as its predecessor.

A siren introduces "We All Fall Down": no, Blue Murder hasn't dozed off at all: Sykes makes things clear, and the sessionists lending him a hand do their duty: classy hard rock with tight rhythms, always from a classic influence, simply one of Sykes' best compositions! Following, surprisingly, is the pleasant cover of Small Faces' "Itchycoo Park", showcasing that intimate and whimsical side which was less present in the previous album, complete with seventies-style choruses. "Cry For Love" instead traces the long compositions of the debut album, once again showing 100% hard rock, cadence-driven and impactful, with an increasingly complete contribution from the keyboards (and here you can feel that Franklin has left a trace of his bass). The song is very beautiful, and what's most pleasing is the semi-tribal tempo change halfway through the song.

"Runaway" starts with a very sweet acoustic guitar, welcoming a beautiful ballad perhaps somewhat simple and anonymous, but all in all not bad, especially for the inserted melodies. "Dance" is another nice song, very playful and along the lines of the cover: it's clear that Mr. Sykes wanted to have a bit of fun and not take himself too seriously, and this choice, though slightly compromising the quality, turned out to be right, although it must be said that in less complex compositions Sykes has shown his value, particularly in the solos performed on "Dance" itself. "I'm On Fire" is a proper rock track, a ride between hard rock and heavy ala Rainbow (allow me the comparison just this once!), featuring an immense talent of melodic hard rock behind the microphone, namely former Baton Rouge singer Kelly Keeling. Incidentally, Kelly Keeling was supposed to sing the entire album, but due to choices made by Sykes himself, everything was resized to his image and likeness (AMEN!).

"Save My Love" is another very deep song, yet another ballad this time less successful than Runaway, which, just for a change, talks about saving some love...oh yes, how can anyone resist Sykes' lush mane! "Love Child" (another love song, it seems to be an obsession!) is a very intense hard rock with plenty of horns and horn sections: quite unusual from Sykes himself to include a song ala Extreme in some ways (always with due proportions, of course!), but I must say it is rather interesting and never tiring! "Shouldn't Have Let You Go" is one of the best songs on the record and once again features Sykes as the protagonist with truly spot-on rhythms, where his guitar continues to roar like a lion, aided by a truly incisive rhythm section, not to mention the semi-atmospheric, dreamlike ending!

"I Need An Angel" pays a small price and turns out this time too long and unsuccessful (one of the few poorly executed chapters of this splendid album nonetheless). The album closes with the beautiful and acoustic "She Knows" which reminded me, believe it or not, of the best things Sting ever did with the Police! It must be said that Sykes also sings in almost the same way as the English singer! Give it a listen and you'll tell me. The Japanese version also contains a bonus track, namely "Bye Bye", another song with funky rhythms as we heard on Love Child.

I have to admit, if you have the chance to get it, don't let it slip away. It's an excellent hard rock album, very versatile and heterogeneous, not a masterpiece like the debut, but it definitely deserves a listen and even a deep one.