{"id":40355,"date":"2014-05-05T21:24:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T02:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=40355"},"modified":"2014-05-05T21:27:20","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T02:27:20","slug":"john-taglieri-southern-paradise-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/john-taglieri-southern-paradise-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"John Taglieri | Southern Paradise<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"JohnPut Springsteen, Mellencamp, and latter-day Bon Jovi into a musical blender and the result might sound very much like guitarist\/singer\/songwriter John Taglieri. If you must hang a tag on it, call it \u201call American working man rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d It\u2019s not designed for hard rockers and headbangers\u2014mosh pits will not spontaneously erupt in response to Taglieri\u2019s tunes\u2014but it does serve as a nice, solid, mellow rock soundtrack for those summer days sitting on your deck soaking up the sun while sipping Cold Cock Whiskey.<\/p>\n

Taglieri is an independent spirit blessed with make-it-happen tenacity and Southern Paradise<\/em> is a six-track EP full of warm, organic, blue collar rock that features some of the best songs of his long-running career. For example, \u201cIt\u2019s You\u201d is an expertly crafted ballad, sweet and memorable and graced with that romantic, lighter-in-the-air quality of which all great ballads are made. Not that a hard rock website should advocate this, but \u2026 with just a smidgen more twang in the guitar, this song could be a smash hit on modern country radio.<\/p>\n

So you can discern just a touch of country (not pure country; think more along the lines of Bon Jovi\u2019s Lost Highway<\/em> for example), some blues, and some straight-up rock. All these elements intertwine under Taglieri\u2019s skilled tutelage to create an enjoyable, lighthearted, toe-tapping album. If you listen to these songs and wish they were heavier \u2026 you\u2019re completely missing the point.<\/p>\n

While the big ballad may be the album\u2019s best track, there are other noteworthy songs. \u201cWhat I Think About\u201d sports a working man vibe centered around a simple but infectious hook. \u201cDays of Night\u201d is a cool mid-tempo rocker and probably the \u201cheaviest\u201d song on the EP (though use the term \u201cheavy\u201d lightly, if that makes sense). And the title track is a cozy, body-swaying soft rock tune with a tinkling piano to compliment the talented guitar work. <\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard raging, murderous, nihilistic, kill-a-puppy-and-violate-its-corpse music? Yeah, this is the exact opposite of that. Let\u2019s put it this way\u2014if you ever find yourself on a tropical island paradise where the water is crystal blue, the breeze is light, the girls are gorgeous, and the drinks come in coconuts, don\u2019t be surprised if this is the album playing in the background.<\/p>\n

Genre: Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJohn Taglieri (vocals, guitar)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Southern Paradise
\n2. When I Think About
\n3. Down the Road
\n4. It\u2019s You
\n5. Days of Night
\n6. Turn Around<\/p>\n

Label: Leap Dog Music<\/p>\n

Webpage: <\/a>www.facebook.com\/JohnTaglieriMusic<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — Put Springsteen, Mellencamp, and latter-day Bon Jovi into a musical blender and the result might sound very much like guitarist\/singer\/songwriter John Taglieri. If you must hang a tag […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":40356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,9264,9266,2387,9265],"class_list":{"0":"post-40355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-john-taglieri","10":"tag-leap-dog-music","11":"tag-rock","12":"tag-southern-paradise"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40355","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=40355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}