pier_paolo_farina

De gustibus, come on. Hargrett seems very far from the class of great Southern soloists scattered among Lynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Point Blank, ARS, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker, 38 Special, and so on. The second phase of his career as a quintet (with Ken Hensley on keyboards, a musician I adore, but who plays a supporting role with Blackfoot and doesn’t contribute to the harmonies, which is strange since he dominated in Uriah Heep, wrote everything himself, and even added harmonies in the restroom) feels inferior to me; they try to be metal but they’re not—they're Southern boogie men.

The best is the opener "Fireball," a gem. Not many remember the solo in Demon's Eye, come on, my favorite of Blackmore's is simply the one from "Highway Star," which has taught millions of rock guitarists, almost all of them. Rest in peace, Jon, and thanks again.

Cover by Roger Dean, oh yes

The punk of '77 didn't revolutionize a damn thing; in those years, the real "enemy" of rock, progressive, etc., was disco. It was the Bee Gees, Barry White, and Donna Summer in the spotlight, not those four donkeys with the safety pins and sweaty armpits.

Taste is taste, and Debaser allows you to write pretty much whatever you want, but the "majestic voice" of Sandy Saraya, to take an example from your fan review, is pure rhetoric, or I don't know what else. "Majestic" is an absolute adjective, and so it’s better to refer it to people like Ronnie James Dio (who, to be clear, is not one of my idols, I don’t own any of his records, but he had a truly majestic voice) or, staying in the female realm, perhaps Ann Wilson.

I own the CD. In my opinion, you exaggerate: it's an average AOR album, her vocals are average, the songwriting is modest, and there’s nothing truly memorable, impeccable production and professional but anonymous musicians... in short, a very decent album for fans of the genre, and a "B-list" band in the AOR scene (the one referenced by your nickname was definitely A-list...).

One great song: Nobody's fault but Mine. Achilles is three minutes too long, Tea for One is the only Zeppelin blues that I don't adore. Plant’s vocal cords have been redone, and you can tell: a style that is as personal and invaluable as always, but goodbye forever to his youthful falsetto, powerful and extensive. Bonham and Jones, on the other hand, show no hesitation: a rhythm section with a groove and, above all, a perfect sound. Page is blurred. The Led Zeppelin are my favorite band, which is why I’m speaking negatively about an album that is worth four stars (like the subsequent one, unlike the first six that deserve five stars with honors and academic applause). I almost never listen to the copy of Presence that lies in my CD collection. God bless the Led Zeppelin, but by the time they ended, they had been in significant decline for five years.

Well, I deeply love Free and the economical, soulful style of Kossoff, the sound of his Les Paul, his fast and breathtaking vibrato, but this album is not much to write home about. The musician had great solo virtues but poor compositional skills. The man was in the midst of a drug crisis, a true junkie (with talent). An album I owned and then got rid of without regrets. The best things remain those done as a team with Andy Fraser, a beautiful composer and an original bassist, and Paul Rodgers, who at just twenty already had a mature voice, perfectly controlled and flexible, like no other. Three stars in my opinion.