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KELLY KEELING Giving Sight To The Eye Mascot Records (2005)
Vocalist Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge/Blue Murder/John Norum) has produced
a fine solo debut and amazingly it’s his first one as well! There are plenty
of guests as well including Roger Daltrey, Don Dokken, Carmine Appice and
Tony Franklin to name but a few.
The album also covers many musical areas ranging from the hard rock opener ‘Rising Of The Snake’ (not a song about
David Coverdale) to the funky vibe of ‘Broken’ (for me the weakest track on
here). Stand out tracks are ‘Ground Zero’, a truly magnificent piece of pomp
rock and it’s no wonder as it is written by Kansas’s Kerry Livgren and
‘Jessie’, a wonderful acoustic number in the vein of CSNY and the Eagles.
Roger Daltrey and Denny Laine (ex-Wings/Moody Blues) guest on this one and
if any song on here would suit airplay it is this gem.
Elsewhere former Dio/Rainbow drummer Vinnie Appice drums up a storm on ‘Hell Is On The Way’,
with Keeling proving he’s no slouch in the guitar department either as he
widdles up a solo storm a la Steve Vai.
I was pleasantly surprised at how good this album was as many albums with
long guest lists tend to have a disjointed feel to them. Well worth adding
to your collection and it highlights what an underrated vocalist Keeling is.
****
Review by Jason Ritchie
Artist website
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***** Out of this world | **** Pretty
damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly |
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