WALLNER / VAIN – Back On The Strip (2021)
WALLNER / VAIN is a collaboration between European musicians guitarist Will Wallner (White Wizzard) and female singer Vivien Vain. The duo met in 2008, and discovered they shared a mutual passion for rock n’ roll bands like Thin Lizzy, Rainbow and Van Halen.
WALLNER / VAIN already released an album and some EP’s, and they moved Los Angeles at the beginning of 2020 with one purpose; to record a great rock n’ roll album with the assistance of top musicians and producers from the genre.
The band is already recording the upcoming album titled ‘Duel’, and their new song ‘Back on the Strip‘ is autobiographical, telling the story of how they recently moved to LA and how the 80s Sunset Strip scene influenced them. Wallner even is living right across from the Rainbow Bar & Grill, and as fate would have it, the apartment was also the former home of legendary Motorhead frontman Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilminster.
WALLNER / VAIN has also re-released some of their best songs, and while recording ‘Duel’ they made as well “The Legend Never Dies: A Tribute to Thin Lizzy” featuring 4 ‘deep cuts’ from 4 different Thin Lizzy albums.
Among the musicians into these recordings there’s Vinny Appice, Derek Sherinian, Tony Franklin, Carmine Appice, Don Airey.
WALLNER / VAIN delivers well-crafted rockers embedded in Classic Hard Rock aesthetics with noticeable influences from the Seventies / Eighties. It portrays the duo bravely continuing the legacy their great predecessors left them with, drawing inspirations from the likes of Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple and Gary Moore.
Still, it’s more of an appropriate vehicle for expression for them than a rip-off of the old patterns, and there’s also this feisty, expressive element in the music that nevertheless keeps it fresh and unique.
Regarding the just released today EP ‘”The Legend Never Dies: A Tribute to Thin Lizzy”, the band does a great job covering no so well known Lizzy songs, arranged for female vocals and with a stupendous back up band.
According to Wallner; “The songs were chosen primarily for their lyrical content, to highlight the lyrical genius that was Phil Lynott. The final product came out sounding better than anything we’ve ever done in the past. This is our tribute to Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott, even though he may no longer be with us, his music continues to inspire generation after generation of musicians, just like us. The Legend Never Dies!”
01 – Back On The Strip (feat Vinny Appice)
02 – Black Moon (feat Tony Franklin & Carmine Appice)
03 – Eye Of The Storm (feat Vinny Appice)
04 – All That I Want (feat Tony Franklin & Carmine Appice)*
05 – Hollywood (Down on Your Luck) (feat V.Appice, Sherinian, Franklin)*
06 – Vagabond of the Western World (feat V.Appice, Sherinian, Franklin)*
07 – Do Anything You Want To (feat V. Appice, Sherinian, Franklin)*
08 – Genocide (The Killing of the Buffalo) (feat V.Appice, Sherinian, Franklin)
09 – The Loner [Gary Moore cover] (feat Vinny Appice & Don Airey)
Vocals: Vivien Vain
Guitars: Will Wallner
Bass: Jon Leon, Tony Franklin
Drums: Vinny Appice, Carmine Appice
Keyboards: Don Airey
* from The Legend Never Dies: A Tribute to Thin Lizzy EP:
Vocals: Vivien Vain
Guitars: Will Wallner
Drums: Vinny Appice
Keyboards: Derek Sherinian
Bass: Tony Franklin
Mixed by Ralph Patlan (Michael Schenker, UFO)
BUY
willwallner.bandcamp.com/track/back-on-the-strip
willwallner.bandcamp.com/album/black-moon
willwallner.bandcamp.com/album/all-that-i-want
www.willwallner.com/store/The-Legend-Never-Dies-A-Tribute-to-Thin-Lizzy-EP-CD-p408528874
