BILLY MORRIS (Warrant) and The Sunset Strip – Holdin’ All The Aces (2018) HQ *Out of print*
For years now, Billy Morris has worked to cement himself as one of the premier members of the music industry residing in NE Ohio. Spending 5 years as the lead guitarist in the platinum selling band Warrant, Billy performed & recorded on the Under the Influence album on which he sang lead vocals on the cover of AC/DC‘s “Down Payment Blues”, as well as playing guitar on the whole album. Billy is also now the lead guitarist in the glam hard rock band TUFF, and toured as lead guitarist for QUIET RIOT, and with Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert.
Now with his own band BILLY MORRIS and the SUNSET STRIP tour all over the U.S. as headliners or supporting the likes of Tom Keifer, Ratt, etc. Billy is also a very good songwriter and singer, and put his songs on this CD titled “Holdin’ All The Aces“. The disc is out of print and the album retired from iTunes and alike, so has become pretty hard to find now.
With a first classic production and its feel-good hoo-driven feeling, the record quickly immerses the listener into the sights and sounds of the good ole days on the Sunset Strip – when Aqua Net, spandex and copious amounts of partying, makeup and glam ruled the world.
It is a perfect modernized glam metal album that could have easily been written thirty-five years ago, but it is able to still hold relevance today. ”Holdin’ All The Aces” is a good mix of rockers, ballads and everything in-between accompanied by the exceptional guitar work of Billy Morris, Rob Samay and Aaron Adkins. There are plenty of “world-class” guitar solos, as Billy likes to describe them, and the songs are really good.
”Party Like The Weekend Never Ends” is a catchy melodic rocker with a great hook and memorable chorus. EXTREME drummer Kevin Figueredo appears behind the skins, ahd he’s also a regular in the bands live shows.
One of my favorite tracks on the record is the hard rockin-driven and darker “Dressed Up Like A Millionare” which is by far the heaviest song on the album. In addition, the album opener, “Lose Control”, the title track and “Hook It Up” all exemplify a guitarist who carved out a career during and after the height of the 80s music scene.
Billy’s influences shine through in these fourteen songs as an ode to his time spent with many of the artists that shaped the hair metal / melodic hard rock landscape.
The album is dedicated in honor of Kevin Dubrow, and Billy Morris gives special thanks to another Ohio native, Jani Lane “…for making my Rock n’ Roll dreams come true, RIP brother.”
The passion and sincerity of the performances, the strength of the songwriting, the hooks… all of those things combined made for “Holdin’ All The Aces” a very good melodic hard rock album.
If you want a good rockin’ party anthem of an album that will tingle those nostalgic feelings you once had about the 80s and leave you wanting to hit the Sunset Strip one last time to explore all of the excesses of a music scene long lost, but not forgotten – this is the record for you.
Highly Recommended
01 – Lose Control
02 – Party Like the Weekend Never Ends
03 – Holdin All the Aces
04 – Dressed up Like a Millionaire
05 – When I Fall
06 – Stop Me
07 – You Set Me Up (The Handgun Song)
08 – Hook It Up
09 – Mr. Ed
10 – All the Right Words
11 – Don’t Know How to Quit
12 – Disolve
13 – Cold and Bittersweet
14 – You Won’t See Me Comin
Billy Morris – lead vocals, lead guitar
Aaron Adkins – lead guitar, back up vocals
Rob Samay – lead guitar, back up vocals
Paul Lewis – bass, back up vocals
Ray Brown – drums, back up vocals
Additional Musicians:
Keven Figueiredo – drums (2)
Dustin Hengst – drums (4)
Tim Burris – drums (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
Mike Szuter – guitars, back up vocals
Mike Woods – guitars, back up vocals
out of print
