Lizards
Against All Odds

These Lizards are an unknown but intriguing and valid American quartet of guitar/keyboards/bass/drums formed at the beginning of the last decade, dealing with hard rock with both seventies and eighties reflections, based on the usual blues foundation but also on a certain (mild) progressive and epic form. I happened to encounter them when I attended a Glenn Hughes concert where they opened, and I must say that of that evening my most vivid and admired memory is by far for their set. The lineup also includes some prominent names, starting with the voluminous paisà, the ineffable master of cymbals and skins, Bobby Rondinelli, a superb musician for his disarming precision, undeniable flair, and adequate power that he unleashes on the kit; Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Blue Oyster Cult, Quiet Riot are the heavyweights in his resume. His only flaw is that he tends to overdo it: he knows he's good but always shows a bit of anxiety that someone might not notice...

Also of some notoriety is the bald keyboardist and lead vocalist Mike DiMeo, who, in his youth, in the early '90s, almost joined Deep Purple, in place of the unsuitable Joe Lynn Turner who had just been dismissed: Blackmore wanted him, but the majority chose to reintegrate Ian Gillan once again. Mike was subsequently the singer of the melodic heavy metal band Riot for years, but he is also mentioned as a collaborator on many other productions, including the latest studio album by the recently deceased blues giant Johnny Winter.

The blond and left-handed musician who handles the guitar, skilled albeit unknown, is named Patrick Klein and he's a successful Frankenstein: one third Iommi, one third Blackmore, and one third Page!; but the most extraordinary and extravagant member of the band is bassist and harmonica player Randy Pratt. Seeing him in photos and even more in action leaves one a bit bewildered, he looks like an elderly extra from a film set in the eighteenth century! A Mozartian face of... coachman (or butler?), dressing between hippy and dandy, engaged in playing eccentric and gigantic basses full of strings and enormous keyboards. However, the oddities end here, because then it's only a pleasure to hear and admire him play: skillful, brilliant, creative, precise... excellent. A shining example: the insistent "pedal" in sixteenths, high and muted, held under the verses of the exuberant and extended (nine minutes) "Can't Fool Myself", a true show of strength of this album with its long guitar and organ solos: brilliant! original!

The poor cover that wraps this work, the fourth in a career currently halted at five albums, also introduces other delicacies ranging from tough nodose and Zeppelin-esque rock blues like the opening "I'm No Good" and later "On A Wire", to the instrumental with solos of harmonica, guitar, and organ "Plank Time", from the discreetly progressive situation "Ariel", with an atmospheric solo opening evolving over a harpsichord-like arpeggio, to the heavy street funky style Aerosmith model of "Bad Luck Is Come To Town".

The soul-funky side of this formation, favored by the lethal groove of a truly gifted bassist, is further highlighted by the guest appearance of a real specialist in the field, the same Glenn Hughes who allowed me to know them by bringing them to Italy to play. Glenn duets with DiMeo on as many as four tracks, as usual exaggerating in exuberance (especially on the decidedly Mercuryan "Take The Fall", an exercise in Queen style with a pompous orchestra) and somewhat overshadowing the more measured and linear singing of the lead, but so be it. In reality, Mike's style is primarily indebted to Ronnie James Dio, it is well heard in the two or three tracks that moderately touch epic metal, like the final closing "The Arrival of Lyla".   The songwriting is solid, there is no lack of solo ideas (Klein's guitar is naturally the most engaged in this, but it must be said that DiMeo is not just a frontman... he is indeed a keyboardist in all respects, with technique and creativity more than adequate to venture into organ escapades Rainbow/Deep Purple style, to deliver full synthesized horn arrangements in the funkier pieces, to accompany himself on the piano with the right touch in quieter moments); the rhythm section is decidedly above average and the sublime Pratt is also a harmonica player to remove, managing by the way to snatch engagements even for playing exclusively this instrument, like in the recently reformed Cactus!

For those for whom new (what?) and modern (?) rock music seems disappointing, here is an unknown quartet of perfect performers of classic rock, an old genre but that in albums like this makes a great comeback thanks to today's clean and highly dynamic production techniques and the increased instrumental skill of the musicians; I still have to listen to some of their other productions, but for now, this "Against All Odds" appears to me as their most successful work: great songs and few fillers among the thirteen tracks present.