Little Steven
Born Again Savage

"This is the record I would have liked to make in 1969... it is a tribute to the pioneers of hard rock with whom I grew up... The Kinks, The Who, Yardbirds, and the three bands born from them: Cream, Jeff Beck group, and Led Zeppelin...".

These few lines would be enough to introduce his album and give an idea of what's inside. Released in 1999, but the result of years of writing, it is practically the fifth album that closes the series of his political albums started back in the eighties during the Reagan era. But this album truly contains something different; it is an album of steaming and uncompromising hard rock that you wouldn’t expect from Little Steven. The dream of his life as a musician materializes more than thirty years after the start of his career.

Career spent practically in New York, he was born in Boston, spending the seventies as a supporting act first to Southside Johnny, for whom he wrote some hits, then becoming a guitarist for the E Street Band of his close friend Springsteen, with whom he stayed until the realization of "Born in the USA" in 1984, after which he left his old friend on the eve of the world tour that would make Springsteen a global star. Steve Van Zandt (his real name) seems to have a small mission to accomplish, which is to spread awareness about political corruption, involving fights in favor of the poor and the marginalized. The idea of the "SUN CITY" project, which united artists from all over the world against APARTHEID, started with him.

This "Born Again Savage" is pure hard garage rock, light-years away from his eighties records which, despite being honest and lyrically interesting, suffered from that overproduction that ruined hundreds of records from that decade.

A trio lineup with Little Steven on vocals (never so pissed) and guitars (the true stars of the work), Jason Bonham (son of... such a father) on drums and Adam Clayton (yes, the very one standing to the left of Bono) on bass.

The first two tracks are enough to present a Little Steven, who can finally assert and show everyone how well he can play the guitar, without having to comply with the boss's orders. Born Again Savage and Camouflage of Righteousness are hard rock songs with guitars prominently featured that can be placed in the seventies hard blues. Guns, Drugs and Gasoline, fast and galloping, contains a chorus that seems to come out of London punk '77, as does Organize. Face of God is a spoken rock that anticipates the wonderful Saint Francis, with a great and heartfelt vocal performance by Steven, who also delights us with a central solo that changes the pace of the song which, after eight minutes, closes with the initial arpeggio. The best song on the record without a doubt.

It closes with the expansive and almost psychedelic "Lust for enlightenment" and the rock tinged "Tongues of Angels", which recalls something of the best of U2 from the eighties.

What else to add, except that this album went completely unnoticed at the time of its release. A couple of years ago, Steven talked about a remastering of his catalog that included also this last work. I recommend it to all rock lovers. Don't let yourselves be misled; here you won't find traces of Springsteen or the Steven of the eighties. Now that our "little" Steve, in between appearances on TV in the series "The Sopranos", hosting radio programs aimed at launching new rock talents, his record label, and the reunion of the E Street Band, seems to have regained youthful momentum beyond physical bloating. Give him and yourself a gift, listen to this record. It deserves it.