{"id":22221,"date":"2012-09-18T19:13:08","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T00:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=22221"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:26:10","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:26:10","slug":"richie-sambora-aftermath-of-the-lowdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/richie-sambora-aftermath-of-the-lowdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Richie Sambora | Aftermath of the Lowdown<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"RichieThere is nothing wrong with tapping into the mainstream 50-plus demographic as Richie Sambora is doing on his new solo release. After all, this kind of market has always been recession-proof. It\u2019s just that the lyrics about \u201cpoliticians feeding scripted lies\u201d don\u2019t sit well with country pop schmaltz, done-to-death soft-rock Jovi-esque faux confessionals, and pop-punk which are all as sleek, rehearsed, and unspontaneous on this album as any pronouncements you hear these days from the White House or from Downing Street. <\/p>\n

Sambora\u2019s guitar leads are given modest exposure on this record, and it\u2019s the songwriting that is to the fore. All songs \u2013 except one \u2013 are written in collaboration with producer Luke Ebbin and oscillate between imitations of the old pathos-laden old Bon Jovi anthems (even with the same vocal intonations and mannerisms), R.E.M.-meet-Coldplay pseudo-epics, easy clich\u00e9d rock, and the Beatles-inspired piano-driven ballads.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know which of those styles is Sambora\u2019s true voice. It is perhaps not any particular genre that defines him, but the smooth, craftily forged, easy-on-the-ear way he writes the melodies which roll along the beaten track without a single twitch (never mind rush) of spontaneous emotion, without taking any risks or simply detours from the familiar, perhaps for fear they would make listeners think or feel something unusual. <\/p>\n

Sambora\u2019s guitar solos are, however, less sleek and less reiterative than his songwriting. There aren\u2019t many of them on this album, but there is a standout lead on the highlight \u201cSeven Years Gone\u201d which sounds more erratic than chopsy or melodic, and some standard-issue rock leads on \u201cBurn that Candle Down\u201d and \u201cSugar Daddy.\u201d It\u2019s difficult to imagine this stuff being a revelation to anyone, but this is perhaps the purpose of this album \u2013 to serve as a soundtrack and a lift to the everyday occurrences such as trips to work and weekly shopping. A lift not too elevating but still pleasant enough to numb the pain and the boredom of everyday routines. <\/p>\n

Genre: Soft Rock<\/p>\n

Personnel:
\nRichie Sambora \u2013 vocals, acoustic and electric guitar
\nAaron Sterling \u2013 drums
\nMatt Rollings \u2013 piano, organ
\nCurt Schneider \u2013 bass
\nRusty Anderson \u2013 guitar
\nRoger Joseph Manning, Jr. – keyboards<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Burn That Candle Down
\n2. Every Road Leads Home to You
\n3. Taking a Chance on the Wind
\n4. Nowadays
\n5. Weathering the Storm
\n6. Sugar Daddy
\n7. I\u2019ll Always Walk Beside You
\n8. Seven Years Gone
\n9. Learning to Fly with a Broken Wing
\n10. You Can Only Get So High
\n11. World<\/p>\n

Label: Dangerbird Records<\/p>\n

Online: http:\/\/richiesambora.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Senior Columnist — There is nothing wrong with tapping into the mainstream 50-plus demographic as Richie Sambora is doing on his new solo release. After all, this kind of market has […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,334,5936],"class_list":{"0":"post-22221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-review","9":"tag-richie-sambora"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}