ROSSALL – The Last Glam In Town (2020) *EXCLUSIVE*
There have definitely been some great albums from glam rock artists who subsequently managed to reinvent themselves once the silver platforms began to wane. But, really, has there been anything approaching a great glam rock album since the 1970s? Look no further, ”The Last Glam In Town”, the new album released by John ROSSALL tick all boxes of this beloved genre.
In fact, Rossall is one of the founders of this genre, founder of THE GLITTER BAND in the Seventies. He lived the genre. Musically this album is fun, and if you are not familiar with the style, think Ace Frehley solo album and his cover of ‘New York Groove’.
”The Last Glam In Town” is a near-perfect glam rock album with all of the necessary ingredients: the dual drum kick (Hey!) – that guitar sound (Hey!) – the self-celebratory lyrics (Hey!) … and the sax appeal.
This album sees Rossall perfectly capturing the sounds of the Glam drenched early 70s with a set of songs that are, on one hand a cheeky look back at those times, but also deadly serious as to why that era was so important for the rock&pop musical development.
There’s 10 songs, from start to finish a breath of fresh air. Gone is the sterile, nonsense production that is so prevalent in today’s market. The wonderfully titled ‘Fear of a Glam Planet’ lays down a marker straight away and has it all. The huge drums, the football terrace Hey’s and hand claps all make for a brilliant start, and it only gets better there on in.
‘Never Say Forever Again’ has all the glitter trademark sounds bang in place, and ‘Get Go Girl’ just reinforces that, and is a song that rivals anything that was around in 1973!
Elsewhere, the likes of ‘Got My Groove’ and ‘Equalizer’ stomp along with a quite breathless pace, and the cover of The Honeycombs ‘Have I the Right’ does the original real justice.
We’re then on the home run with the exciting ‘Neon Nights’, and the wonderfully titled ‘Blackpool Rocks’, which really does bring back fond memories of The Glitter Band, at their very best.
‘Glitterbomb’, is just that, a feral mix of both joy and menace, before it’s all finished off with a cover of the classic Glitter Band’s ‘Let’s Get Together Again (Again)’.
This disc is a wonderful ‘in your face’ throwback to the early ’70s, an album that unapologetically takes the listener back to that time when all that mattered was a weekly dose of Top of the Pops, smoking round the back of the school bike sheds, and copping off with one of the girls from the local high school … need I say anymore?
There’s just nothing to analyse about this album – it’s just pure joy – nostalgia yeah – but here-and-now and like the blurb with the album says…
“Glam rock was fun and accessible – partly rooted in early rock nostalgia, though equally futuristic, yet it never forgot the ideal of rock music as celebratory and fun”…
If the mission of Glam is to make you smile, wanna dance, sing-a-long and make you feel that life ain’t so bad after all – then “The Last Glam In Town” accomplishes that mission… and in 2020 it’s much needed!
01 – Fear Of A Glam Planet
02 – Never Say Forever Again
03 – Get Go Girl
04 – Got My Groove
05 – Have I The Right
06 – Equalizer
07 – Neon Lights
08 – Blackpool Rocks
09 – Glitterbomb
10 – Let’s Get Together Again (Again)
John Rossall – vocals, saxophone
Phil Pops – guitar
Dave Glover – bass
Corrie Shells – saxophone
Jake Bradbury – drums
guests:
Fliss Kitson – drums
Jim Smith – guitar
Simon Archer – bass
BUY IT
www.normanrecords.com/records/183689-rossall-the-last-glam-in-town
www.amazon.com/Last-Glam-Town-Rossall/dp/B08JF5KVXG
