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Rating: Recording an album to tell a life story. This is what Richie Sambora does with "Undiscovered Soul," laying bare what he has become, shedding the clothes of a rock star and Bon Jovi guitarist, and donning those of a husband and father. He evokes images of remote places and unforgettable moments with music that at times can be likened to classic Springsteenian rock, yet reaches peaks of unimaginable peace and sweetness. Thus, the second album of the Perth Amboy guitarist manages to match the first (another masterpiece) titled "Stranger In This Town," and in certain aspects, especially lyrically, surpasses it.
Let's begin. The album opens with "Made In America," a track that tells us about the origins of its writer, immediately followed by "Hard Times Come Easy," another typical American piece with Sambora's usual blues nuances. "Fallen From Graceland" is one of the dreamiest songs on the album and suddenly transports us into a car on a highway in the middle of the desert, racing into the sunset. Next is "If God Was A Woman," a piece capable of lifting you when you're sad. "All That Really Matters" is instead a heart-wrenching ballad where our dear Richie showcases all his interpretative and vocal skills. Then we have "You're Not Alone," an aggressive track opened by a riff birthed from the strings of one of Sambora's many Stratocasters. "In It For Love" is the result of one of those moments when the Bon Jovi guitarist puts down the Stratocaster and picks up an acoustic guitar, unforgettable. "Chained" is a piece that needs to be listened to several times to be understood, but already by the second listen, it sticks in your head and never leaves. Another acoustic episode of the album, and a song worth purchasing the album for on its own, is "Harlem Rain," a melody that projects us through a world of lived lives and regrets, but also hope. We are led to the end with the most aggressive piece of the work, "Who I Am," seven minutes and nine seconds of furious and complicated vocal virtuosity and guitar solos, immediately followed by perhaps the most interesting piece by the musician native of New Jersey, "Downside Of Love," which in some way seems to try to emulate the structure of "Stranger In This Town," the title track of Sambora's previous work, but with completely different purposes and outcomes. The fitting closure of this work is the track that gives the album its name, "Undiscovered Soul," a fantastic song, with a vaguely New-Age flavor, that bids us farewell and promises the next solo album (still unreleased unfortunately) of the American guitarist.
Overall, the immense dedication and sentiment that Sambora puts into this work are to be praised, where once again he shows, beyond being a six-string wizard, that he is also a great singer. Clearly superior to any Bon Jovi album, and above all capable of leaving a mark on the listener's mind.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Fallen From Graceland (06:49)
There's a line that you cross,
When you find out that you're lost.
When your world is closing in,
And it crawls under your skin.
And the heart's always blind,
When it's in this state of mind.
There's a burning light in this town,
For every heart that's broken down tonight,
Here tonight.
You're stranded out there in the rain,
And you just can't see past the pain tonight.
You've fallen from graceland, Fallen from graceland.
When you're too proud to crawl,
It keeps your back against the wall.
You wanna die, but you live,
With nothing left to give.
And there's no place to hide,
When you're tangled up inside.
There's a burning light in this town,
For every heart that's broken down tonight.
Here tonight.
You're stranded out there in the rain,
But you just can't see past the pain tonight.
You've fallen from graceland.
And there's no place to hide,
When you're tangled up inside.
There's a burning light in this town,
For every heart that's broken down tonight.
Here tonight.
You're stranded out there in the rain,
But you just can't see past the pain tonight.
You've fallen from graceland.
Fallen, you've fallen from graceland tonight,
Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen from graceland.
And tonight.
There's a light, a bright light burning,
For every broken heart in this world tonight.
Deep inside.
Yes, there's one light burning,
That will lead you through the storm tonight.
It's gonna be alright, be alright,yeah,
Gonna be alright, yeah, it's gonna be alright.
(Oh it's gonna be alright, tonight)
Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen from graceland, (Fallen from graceland)
Tonight.
12 Who I Am (07:07)
Only child
lonely one
trying to act like his father's son
make him proud through he sometimes fails
locked up, living in a jail
Help me now
Help me now
God I feel misunderstood
Trust me now
Trust me now
Who I am is good.
Who I used to be ain't what I am
if you walked inside my shoes
then you would understand
Who I am - you wonder
Who I am - I wonder
Who I am
just who I am.
When I lost is when I learned
when the road took a crooked turn
wore tha face of I just don't care
that piece of me just disappeared
Help me now
Help me now
find some hope inside myself
Reaching down
finding out
who's hiding in this shell.
Who I used to be ain't what I am
if you walked inside my shoes
then you would understand
Who I am - I wonder
Who I am - I wonder
Who I am
Who I am.
Somehow I got to find a mirror
to make the stranger clearer
all I wanna be is who I am.
Reaching down
finding out
I still feel misunderstood
Trust me now
Trust me now
Who I am is good.
Who I used to be ain't what I am
if you walked inside my shoes
then you would understand
Who I am - you wonder
Who I am - I wonder
Who I am
It's who I am.
Who I am
Who I am
Who I am
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