ADRENALINE MOB – Dearly Departed (2015)

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Although featuring awesome vocalist Russell Allen in the line-up, I never liked ADRENALINE MOB. Their two albums were too disjointed to my ears, that’s why never were presented here on the blog.
But this “Dearly Departed” to be launch on February 9 via Century Media is different, and I liked a lot.

“Dearly Departed” is in fact a covers album and also features acoustic versions of songs from their two studio CDs, plus a previously unreleased track recorded during the band sessions last year.
The disc opens with melting, bluesy hard rocking take on Pat Travers’ “Snortin’ Whiskey”, and man, Adrenaline Mob rock your socks off.
This confirms my problem with the band’s own penned songs: they are not consistent enough, but give these guys a good song to work on and the play awesomely.

We have a great version of “Devil Goes Down To Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band which I was dubious about, as the guitar playing of Mike Orlando replaced the frantic fiddle playing on the original. It works a treat though.
The other top notch cover is Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down”. This version fair shakes the dust from the rafters!
The “Black Sabbath Medley” is solid too, with Russell Allen very close to Ronnie James Dio’s magic.

“Gets You Through The Night” is an unreleased track from the ‘Men Of Honor’ sessions. It is a no nonsense old-school hard rocker pretty much different from what the band has been doing on their albums. Perhaps this is the reason I like this one a ton.
The acoustic version of “Crystal Clear” allow Russell Allen’s voice to take centre stage, while Mike Orlando plays some mean acoustic guitar on “Angel Sky”.

“Dearly Departed” may be an unusual release for Adenaline Mob’s fans, but for me it’s a very good record, in fact the first I can really appreciate from this combo.
If your ears are more Melodic Hard Rock / Classic Hard Rock oriented, don’t miss “Dearly Departed”. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy these talented musicians (especially Allen) doing – this time – well written songs. And they are terrific at it.
Strongly Recommended.

01. Snortin’ Whiskey (Pat Travers cover)
02. Dearly Departed [edited version]
03. The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels cover)
04. Crystal Clear [acoustic version]
05. Black Sabbath Medley (Black Sabbath cover)
06. Gets You Through The Night [prev. unreleased]
07. Angel Sky [acoustic version]
08. All On The Line [acoustic version]
09. Tie Your Mother Down (Queen cover)

Russell Allen – vocals
Mike Orlando – guitars
AJ Pero – drums, percussion
Erik Leonhardt, John Moyer – bass

PRE-Order:
www.cmdistro.com/adrenaline-mob-dearly-departed-pre-order.html
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