{"id":46038,"date":"2014-10-14T18:58:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T23:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=46038"},"modified":"2014-10-14T18:58:37","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T23:58:37","slug":"rated-x-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/rated-x-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Rated X | Rated X<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ratedCall it postmodernism or think about the freedom of choice that comes with seniority \u2013 there\u2019s more super groups in rock than you can enumerate in one breath now. Still, every classic rock fan must have felt an urgent need to pinch themselves when they saw the news of Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen), Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, King Kobra, Blue Murder), Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder, Whitesnake) and Karl Cochran (Ace Frehley) collaborating together. However, this was neither a mirage, nor just a sweet dream! The iconic musicians joined forces under the moniker of Rated X and, what is more, the first album of theirs is to see the light of day in November. The self-titled album was made under the guidance of an aulic Frontiers\u2019 producer, the omnipresent (and perhaps omnipotent, considering the vast amount as well as quality of his work) Alessandro Del Vecchio. Do the iconic names in the band\u2019s camp equal the fulfillment of the great expectations a listener should have? Let\u2019s listen and see.<\/p>\n

Starting with thunderous drum roll that develops into the first track \u201cGet Back My Crown,\u201d Rated X is, to paraphrase an old adage, the best of four worlds. From the fiery drumming being the trademark of legendary Carmine Appice to Joe Lynn Turner\u2019s powerhouse singing and charisma, it\u2019s having all the key ingredients of hard rock masterpiece blended into one. And although there might have been some Purple-esque flavors to the opening song on the album and you might have caught yourself thinking about Turner-fronted Purple album Slaves And Masters at times – the music is every inch contemporary, meaty rock sound that screams 2014 rather than the \u201880s or \u201890s. <\/p>\n

The second track \u201cThis Is Who I Am\u201d continues in a feisty, bluesy manner enhanced by the flawless modern-day production, with the infallible Turner belting out a powerful self-independence manifesto. And although the mellow intro and slow-ish verses of \u201cFire And Ice\u201d may have suggested there\u2019s a ballad coming on, it\u2019s just the opposite with fiery choruses and fine guitar solo. The slightly neoclassical interlude in the middle of the song somewhat reminds one of Led Zeppelin\u2019s classic \u201cKashmir\u201d, but it\u2019s more of a nod and a wink than a rip-off anyway. Next is a groovy, Hammond-flavored \u201cI Don\u2019t Cry No More\u201d that has the reunited Blue Murder rhythm section of Appice and Franklin squeezing the blood, sweat and tears from their instruments \u2013 almost literally.<\/p>\n

\u201cLhasa\u201d begins with an eerie, mysterious intro that might have made your hair stand on end \u2013 only to develop into a monumental, slow, lumbering piece with some distant echoes of the aforementioned Led Zepp or Dio-era Rainbow. \u201cDevil In Disguise\u201d is another Purple-esque track that may remind you of Joe Lynn Turner\u2019s work in either Purple or Stuart Smith\u2019s Heaven & Earth. It precedes a fine melodic mid-tempo \u201cYou Are The Music\u201d enriched with what is perhaps the best guitar solo on the album. \u201cPeace Of Mind\u201d stands out because of the pounding bass sound and well-crafted choruses, while \u201cMaybe Tonight\u201d slows down a bit, a charming AOR\/melodic rock piece much in Turner\u2019s usual style (think Sunstorm or his solo albums). \u201cOn The Way To Paradise\u201d gets much feistier, bringing a solid dose of straight-in-your-face \u201870s-flavored riffs against some powerhouse drumming. \u201cOur Love Is Not Over\u201d is a ballad-esque, AOR-ish mid-tempo featuring some tasteful guitar licks, again a nod and a wink to JLT\u2019s melodic rock roots. This being the next-to-last song on the album, the final one is a keyboard-laden, monumental track \u201cStranger In Us All\u201d with many interesting changes of pace. <\/p>\n

With Rated X, you may start to wonder what secret potions or magical practices keep the musicians in such a good shape \u2013 like a fine wine, they\u2019re getting better and better with time, still able to amaze the listeners and release another milestones of their respective careers. And even though the eldest of the pack, Carmine Appice, will celebrate his 68th birthday this year, there\u2019s still no competition to the iconic drummer \u2013 none of the youngsters being able to rise up to such a challenge! If you have any doubts, check out the pounding drumming that\u2019s been the backbone of Rated X and the core of their first album, against Karl Cochran\u2019s tasteful guitar playing, Tony Franklin\u2019s fretless-bass chops and the immaculate vocal talent of Joe Lynn Turner. With such a line-up overseen by Alessandro Del Vecchio himself, you couldn\u2019t simply have gone wrong! If you\u2019re a Rainbow staunch aficionado or an avid Blue Murder fan, you know you can\u2019t miss Rated X anyway, but if you\u2019re just into the contemporary melodic hard rock that has its back-to-roots moments too \u2013 be sure to include it on your list of must-haves. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock
\nBand:
\nJoe Lynn Turner: vocals
\nCarmine Appice: drums
\nTony Franklin: bass
\nKarl Cochran: guitars [except as below]<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tGet Back My Crown
\n2.\tThis Is Who I Am
\n3.\tFire And Ice
\n4.\tI Don\u2019t Cry No More
\n5.\tLhasa
\n6.\tDevil In Disguise
\n7.\tYou Are The Music
\n8.\tPeace Of Mind
\n9.\tMaybe Tonight
\n10.\tOn The Way To Paradise
\n11.\tOur Love Is Not Over
\n12.\tStranger In Us All<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJoe Lynn Turner: vocals
\nCarmine Appice: drums
\nTony Franklin: bass
\nKarl Cochran: guitars [except as below]
\nNikolo Kotzev guitars (tracks 8, 9, 11), lead guitars (tracks 12, 4)
\nDaniel Palmqvist guitars (track 7)<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RatedXRocks<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Call it postmodernism or think about the freedom of choice that comes with seniority \u2013 there\u2019s more super groups in rock than you can enumerate in one breath […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":46040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2105,2317,374,109,10119,10117,10118],"class_list":{"0":"post-46038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-carmine-appice","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-frontiers-records","11":"tag-joe-lynn-turner","12":"tag-karl-cochran","13":"tag-rated-x","14":"tag-tony-franklin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46038","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=46038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}