GREAT WHITE - Back To The Rhythm
September 3, 2007, 17 years ago
(Shrapnel)
You really can’t aspire to too much being an earthy, rootsy, bluesy hard rock band. Especially if you’re going to put the bombast of Collision or the Black Crowes or Artimus Pyledriver or Led Zeppelin aside and write in a subdued balladic zone as often as a Stonesy one. But it’s comforting to know Great White are there, after the over-processed sounds of the ‘80s, after the novelty covers and the tragic fire, after the acoustic albums and tribute albums and live albums. It’s like full circle, and all of that life experience has created a good, solid traditional rock band with a hard edge, nothing less, nothing more. The production on Back To The Rhythm is still a little bright in places, but Jack’s a joy to listen to, and the guitar tones are changed up entertainingly. The sum total of this record is barsy, world-weary… and respectful. Like Skynyrd in a way, but in fact, less commercial and histrionic than that band, which should be a surprise comparative in itself. The best songs come late, in ‘Standin’ On The Edge’ and ‘Neighbourhood’, creating a package that can be accessed at any point in the sequence, for surprises, although every single surprise is in a steadfast traditional style without flash – weird.
