Hard 20 |
Torme"Demolition Ball" This is a reissue of Torme's (the band) final studio album (which originally came out in '93). Two bonus tracks have been added to it now, making it a sixteen song album that clocks in at seventy four minutes! Good value there! Torme was led by Irish born rock guitarist Bernie Torme (who once played in Ozzy Osbourne's band, briefly filling in for Randy Rhoads after he died). Bernie has been going at it for over twenty years now, and is still playing. On this album, he and his band do what the have always done best-playing rough, raw, rowdy, raunchy hard rock ("cock rock", for lack of a better term), the stuff parties are made of! Torme's style is in the vein of classic rockers like Motley Crue, Hanoi Rocks, Aerosmith, the New York Dolls, T Rex, etc. Bernie is a very good guitarist, who scorches on his guitar all though the album! He plays very well, but keeps it basic and down to the bone, not doing anything fancy. "Less is more" seems to be his way of doing things, and it works! "Demolition Ball" rocks from beginning to end, with most of the songs being full throttle hard rock smokers, and very rough around the edges! Classic style hard rock with no frills, that's the name of the game here! Only two songs slow things down a bit, those being "Spinnin' Your Wheels", a bluesy, "Dazed And Confused"-type number, and the ballad "Man O' Means", which starts off unplugged, then goes into being a typical "power ballad". This album kicks some rock and roll booty, and it's great to have it out in the light of day again, and with two extra songs as well! Bernie's a hell of a guitar player, and he's paid his dues and deserves his props (at this point, I think he should be a household name, at least among hard rock fans and guitar players, but that's show biz I guess). He plays rock guitar the way it was meant to be played! I highly recommend this to all fans of classic style hard rock and anyone who's into guitar. Bernie's a master that you could learn a few tricks from. |