Jake E. Lee
Retraced

After just under ten years, Jake E. Lee releases his second solo album (the last being the controversial "A Fine Pink Mist" in '96). Sure, two albums in 15 years aren't many, especially considering the genius and class of this guitar terrorist, the mastermind behind the most complex and fascinating solo album of Ozzy's career, "The Ultimate Sin".

But let's not digress too much and let's listen to this "Retraced", a cover album that aims to be Jake's tribute to the music that always plays in his gut: Procul Harum, Trapeze, James Gang, Johnny Winter, Montrose... It starts with "Whiskey Train", an old piece by Procul Harum: a dirty and nasty riff competes with Chris Logan's voice to see which scratches more. Simple structural lines, the track is straightforward and relies entirely on the power of the dualism between voice and guitar. In "Evil" too, the dirty sounds and atmospheres are the absolute protagonists. There's a nice big riff circling throughout the song, but the voice stands a notch above everything else. "Way Back To The Bone", an old song by Trapeze (see Glenn Hughes) starts with a syncopated and almost sketched riff that drags throughout the song. Aynsley Dunbar's drums keep the whole track up, but it's impossible not to notice Jake's strumming and acidic sounds that brand every note. "I'll Be Creepin'", a Free track, is almost liquid, if not for the guitar that seems almost to clash with the laid-back atmosphere of the song. This might be the impression when listening to the first 4 bars, but then you get carried away by the feeling and Jake's schizophrenic sound. In perfect blues style (and, sound aside, almost Claptonian!) the central solo. With "Woman" explodes a Southern vibe from an America beaten by a 50° sun, with a swinging riff that repeats throughout the track. "A Hard Way To Go" is, in my opinion, the album's most beautiful track: guitar and voice chase and challenge each other in a piece without too many pretensions, but that fully manages to convey the sense of the whole album: sex, beer, and rock & roll.

Ultimately, a record that is pleasant to listen to, with sounds and atmospheres that now seem almost extinct, but that hit straight to the gut.