TAINTED LADY (Michael Catton) – How The Mighty Have Fallen (2017) *HQ*
After “Point Of No Return”, the stupendous debut album of vocalist Michael Catton featured yesterday, some of you asked for his former band TAINTED LADY. Titled “How The Mighty Have Fallen” is their debut album with talented Søren Andersen producing, mixing & mastering – there’s guarantee of a crisp output.
TAINTED LADY have a uniqueness that is very hard to find today with the influx of so many bands, and considering members were in their early twenties at the time of the recording, this is a really mature album with a stellar singer in British-born Michael Catton.
These guys are gifted musicians in their playing ability, and equally so in their songwriting and arranging. Yes, their music is Hard Rock based but they push the limits of this musical style. Featuring plenty of fine guitar work, a thumping rhythm section, and rounded off by a fine vocal performance, this album rocks with originality.
Catton refers on the title ‘How The Mighty Have Fallen’: “The title comes from one of our songs, which sort of ironically pokes fun at the lack of originality in the rock genre today, especially among the established rock bands. But we found that it actually reflects well on most of lyrics on the album, where a general theme is the established vs. the anti-established, the old vs. the new.”
After intro ‘The Witness’, ‘Set Us Free’ comes groovy n’ punchy with good rocky drums and guitar lead in to the song. There are some really good dueling guitar solos. This is followed by the interestingly titled ‘Ampburner’ which is a midtempo number that fairly rocks along with a Joe Elliot style vocal from Catton. The chorus is infectious and multi-layered.
‘Song Of Reckoning’ is something that Led Zeppelin would do in 2000’s: a broken riffs, oomph and retro vibe. Then fast-paced ‘Loverman’ has some Aerosmith swagger, and again big guitars and a strong vocal performance.
Things are then slowed down somewhat with ‘The Best Days’, an atmopsheric acoustic / electric offering with a great guitar line and some beautifully vocals by Catton. It sort of reminds me of a cross between ‘Soldier Of Fortune’, Stairway To Heaven’ and ‘Child In Time’. Great song.
‘Open Minded’, a Purple-esque rocker, the metallic groove of ‘On The Loose’ (with its Dio-like introduction), and the stomp bluesy rocker ‘Sons Of Guns’ are all really solid numbers, which take us to the album’s closing track, ‘Last Of Our Kind’, a melodic rocker with a late ’80s American sleazy feel to it.
‘How The Mighty Have Fallen’ is an album of songs that have varied sources, all different yet cohesive, and while influences are there, the guys are pretty original. This is certainly an impressive debut, and Catton showcases his quality as vocalist.
TAINTED LADY’s sound is fresh, crisp, melodic and rocking all the time.
Highly Recommended
01 – The Witness
02 – Set Us Free
03 – Ampburner
04 – Song of Reckoning
05 – Loverman
06 – The Best Days
07 – Open Minded
08 – On the Loose
09 – Sons of Guns
10 – Last of Our Kind
Vocals – Michael Catton
Guitar – Anders Frank, Jonatan Shoshan
Bass – Daniel Bach
Drums – Fred Over
BUY
amazon.com/Mighty-Have-Fallen-Tainted-Lady/dp/B06XSR8DS4
