Great White Rising
by Derric Miller
Staff Writer
Whatever happened to those days when every Great White release cover art featured a sultry blond: perhaps gazing lustily into your eyes (Once Bitten,); maybe two blonds laying unclothed on a bed wearing only covers (Twice Shy); or one naked being slowly lifted out of the water after being caught (Hooked). Their last CD, Back to the Rhythm, unnecessarily depicted a dude with his shirt off while another tatted him up. This devolution of album art continues on their new release Rising, art that is somewhat kindergarten-ish, with a cartoonish great white shark jumping out of the water while other fishies watch. Luckily, everyone just downloads their music today —cover art be damned! — so it’s the sound files that really count. That being the case, if you thought Back to the Rhythm announced that Great White is back, wait until you hear Rising …
Mark Kendall opens the new CD with a bluesy guitar lead on “Situation,” probably his greatest asset as a Rock guitarist. Being able to play guitar with emotion and passion isn’t easy, but Kendall has been doing so effortlessly for decades. “Situation” is a hard driving hit machine, almost along the lines of “Once Bitten Twice Shy” but sounding rooted in the ’70s. It’s back to the future all over again for Great White. While they found their greatest success with ballads and covers, songs like this keep Great White relevant today. Singer Jack Russell, once of the best singers in all of Rock, just can’t do anything wrong — whether delivering the vocals with a bluesy swagger or showing off his enviable range, everything he sings is incomparable.
“All or Nothin’” is a song dripping with attitude. It begins with the chorus, and Russell snarls, “I give it all or nothin’, cuz that’s the way I roll!” When Kendall, Russell and keyboardist Michael Lardie write together, that’s when Great White truly rises above their competition. This is one of those songs you will swear you’ve heard before, because if could fit on the radio anywhere over the past three decades.
One of the standout tracks on Rising is “Loveless.” This is a bit more complicated track, somewhat in the style of “House of Broken Love” but more upbeat. That Great White groove, somewhat foreboding and definitely sexual drips over the entire composition. Great White is adept at Everyman songs, topics that hit us all in the head, heart … or below. When Russell asks, “Am I just a man in love with love?”, he’s asking a question millions of people have asked themselves. Kendall lays down a sorrowful solo, mirroring everything the song conveys.
Great White doesn’t necessarily go back into the “Save Your Love” vault too often; in fact, their ballads are more storytelling than anything else, and they’ve wiped away the antiseptic Hair Metal past to embrace their Blues’ calling. “Last Chance” is one of the ballads on Rising, featuring subtle keyboard play from Lardie and massive backing vocals, uplifting the chorus along with Russell’s leads. While somewhat sappy, it’s one of the highlights.
They follow up a ballad with the fastest song they’ve penned in quite a while. “Danger Zone” is a raucous, breakneck and menacing track, the kind of song that makes a Jim Beam fan finally step up to Wild Turkey.
“Only You Can Do” is another slower song, acoustic led, soft and featuring Russell’s smooth, higher range vocal style. The lush melodies and harmonies you hear here cannot be found in any other band’s arsenal.
Rising closes with “My Sanctuary,” once more venturing into acoustic land, and this time, featuring a harmonica lead. “You are my sanctuary … my Mother Mary … heaven made you for me,” Russell croons during the chorus. Maybe they went to the well once too often with these mid-range tracks on Rising, but it doesn’t make “My Sanctuary” any less stellar.
Unlike the seemingly hundreds of bands now resurfacing only for Rocklahoma during the summer, and not bringing anything new to the table except the years on their face, Great White is back producing magnificent new material. Of course, they say if a shark stops swimming, it suffocates and dies, but whether or not Great White keeps creating this caliber of music for survival purposes or not, it’s still some of the best Rock you are going to hear all year.
Label: Frontiers Records
Track listing:
1. Situation
2. All Or Nothin’
3. I Dont Mind
4. Shine
5. Loveless
6. Is It Enough
7. Last Chance
8. Danger Zone
9. Down On The Level
10. Only You Can Do
11. My Sanctuary
12. Let’s Spend the Night Together (bonus track)
HRH Rating: 8.4/10