#48/1215
February 14 1986
Brian Setzer
The Knife Feels Like Justice
Genre: Rock
3.75 out of 5
Highlights:
The Knife Feels Like Justice
Radiation Ranch
Aztec
Is it Bryan Adams? Tom Petty? John Mellencamp? Jon Bon Jovi?
Nope. It’s genre hopping guitar god Brian Setzer.
The thing about Setzer that always struck me was just how good he thinks he is. But not in a Malmsteen way. He really likes himself. And he likes playing that 6 string.
Just like Springsteen went country this year and Billie Joe Armstrong went full on Everly Bros a couple years back, Setzer sets his sights on the roots of rock and roll and runs it through his fingers and what comes out is Stadium Rock.
I’ve never had any issue with Setzer’s voice, although I think he strains to sound like he can actually do it or his songwriting, though everything that comes out of him is so obviously influenced by others so I have no truck with this, either. But for all those reason I can’s say it’s great. I’m glad I heard it, since I have a big Setzer hole between the first Stray Cats and The Dirty Boogie. But it’s just a notch below JBJ’s faux-country that’s on the horizon. Sometimes he actually sounds like Psychedelic Furs (“Chains Around Your Heart”) other times like The Alarm (“Aztec”) or Springsteen (“Breath of Life”) but he has no identity of his own.
No comments:
Post a Comment