{"id":47114,"date":"2014-11-24T17:18:43","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T22:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47114"},"modified":"2014-11-24T17:18:43","modified_gmt":"2014-11-24T22:18:43","slug":"bernie-marsden-shine-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/bernie-marsden-shine-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Marsden | Shine<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"BernieThe first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Bernie Marsden \u2013 one of the most underrated guitarists of rock \u2013 is obviously Whitesnake in their early days. And while it\u2019s perhaps the band\u2019s 1987<\/em> and Slip Of The Tongue<\/em> line-ups that are the most remembered (either due to their chart success or Tawny Kitaen prancing on the hood of Jaguar in their music videos), it was Marsden who co-wrote \u201cHere I Go Again\u201d and \u201cFool For Your Loving\u201d, the staples of Whitesnake\u2019s repertoire. However, there\u2019s much more to this musician than just a few albums recorded alongside David Coverdale in the early \u201880s. From his prior stints in Paice Ashton Lord and UFO to latter bands such as Alaska or Moody Marsden Band and also, his solo career. This year, he proves again that \u201clike a hobo, he was born to walk alone\u201d by releasing his most recent endeavor Shine<\/em>. Hailed to be reminiscent of the classic Whitesnake album Ready An\u2019 Willing<\/em>, Marsden\u2019s Shine<\/em> is the album of 13 songs, a star-studded guest list and great expectations.<\/p>\n

It does come as a surprise when the first song on the album turns out to be a\u2026 country song. Bernie Marsden goes Americana\u2026? It definitely appears so, guessing by the clearly country-ish vibe to the harmonica-laden \u201cLinin\u2019 Track.\u201d However, those of us listeners who counted on incorporating more of an early Whitesnake sound into the material on Shine<\/em> will probably be more satisfied with the song number two. \u201cWedding Day\u201d is a blues rock piece with a modern twist that somewhat corresponds with the sound of the Ready An\u2019 Willing<\/em> era, albeit not explicitly. \u201cWalk Away\u201d adds even more variety to the album with its mellow, melodic sound reminiscent of the late \u201870s arena rock and the bands such as Toto \u2013 but even though neat and catchy, the song is hardly memorable. More interesting is its follow-up entitled \u201cKinda Wish She Would.\u201d This particular track goes Americana all the way again, but it\u2019s not country this time. It gravitates towards Southern Rock\/Blues spheres with its feisty licks and the boogie-infused groove, the Allman or Skynyrd-esque aesthetics having been transformed into the 21st century.<\/p>\n

The listener\u2019s journey down the blues lane continues with \u201cLadyfriend,\u201d an excellent piece of traditional blues enriched with the wistful sound of harmonica. Not revelatory perhaps, but more convincing than Marsden\u2019s unnecessary flings towards melodic rock anyway. Upon the first listening to the intro to the next track, the majority of Whitesnake fans are to experience some mixed feelings \u2013 especially those who remain ambivalent towards Whitesnake\u2019s politics of re-recording their songs so as to \u201cupdate\u201d them sound-wise. The risk of the band\u2019s 1978 song \u201cTrouble\u201d having been spoiled by re-recording it for Shine<\/em> was thus a possibility, even though it\u2019s Mr. Coverdale himself that guest sings on it. Luckily, there\u2019s not much harm done to the track, as the country-ish intro develops into the muscular, heavy rock riff introducing a whole new dimension to it. Music-wise, it\u2019s more reminiscent of the sound the modern-day Lynyrd Skynyrd embark on, with some additional touches of blues. As for Coverdale\u2019s vocal performance alone, the comparison of it with the 1978 original may not be downright heartbreaking. But while his bluesy feeling is still there, it has to be sadly admitted the technical prowess is somewhat gone.<\/p>\n

At this particular point, a listener may be tricked into believing it\u2019s the Blues\/Southern Rock direction Bernie Marsden has finally settled for, which would be more than welcome. Again, a surprise is not pleasant when \u201cWho Do We Think We Are\u201d turns out to be a lackluster poppy track and nothing more than that. This kind of thing could have ended up sandwiched between the decent rendition of \u201cTrouble\u201d and a feisty slice of blues entitled \u201cBad Blood\u201d out of a sheer mistake and not for any other reason. Back to \u201cBad Blood,\u201d the microphone here is taken over by the Welsh songstress Cherry Lee Mewis, singing in a sultry, blues-infused manner. The big asset to the track is a rich lead guitar work, a multitude of fiery old school blues licks delivered by Marsden.<\/p>\n

The title track on Shine<\/em> is again a modern-sounding, yet blues-infused rock with some clearly Purple-esque vibes to it. No wonder since it\u2019s Deep Purple\u2019s Ian Paice and Don Airey that guest play on it, together with Joe Bonamassa adding much of six string wizardry in his trademark style. But even though it was a star-studded line-up that recorded it, disappointingly \u201cShine\u201d is not strong enough a song to be a highlight of the entire material. Too many cooks have spoiled the broth, perhaps\u2026? More interesting is the atmospheric, slightly psychedelic sound of \u201cDragonfly,\u201d a Marsden\u2019s successful take on the 1970 Fleetwood Mac song. \u201cYou Better Run\u201d adds much to the album\u2019s overall dynamics with its feisty nature, while the distorted, Hammond-laden sound of \u201cHoxie Rollin\u2019 Home\u201d gravitates towards the genre of Americana again. As for the final, a tasteful instrumental track based almost solely on the acoustic guitar, entitled \u201cNW8,\u201d closes this lopsided album on a pretty high note. <\/p>\n

While there are some things on Shine Bernie Marsden should be praised for, the material in its entirety is far from being flawless. It\u2019s the album\u2019s incoherence genre-wise that is the biggest drawback to it. While there is a common music denominator to a handful of tracks, this being Marsden exploring the bluesy side of his musical ego, his country and melodic rock-oriented flings are not only inconsequent \u2013 they simply don\u2019t fit the rest of the material. What is worse, it\u2019s also obvious some songs lack the exciting songwriting ideas and Marsden\u2019s attempt at reviving one\u2019s glorious past may not be entirely successful, too. On the other hand, Shine<\/em> has certain assets to it, mostly the well-crafted blues-infused tracks \u201cLadyfriend\u201d is a good example of. The overall impression is thus spoiled by a couple of biffs, but still it has to be said that Bernie Marsden\u2019s new album features a handful of songs that are really worth being checked out. And after all, \u201cHere I Go Again\u201d and \u201cFool For Your Loving\u201d is the level of songwriting excellence you don\u2019t reach at every take in your life, isn\u2019t it\u2026?<\/p>\n

Genre: Rock, Blues Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nBernie Marsden: guitars, bass guitars, vocals<\/p>\n

Additional musicians:
\nJohn Gordon \u2013 bass guitar
\nIan Jenning \u2013 bass guitar
\nJimmy Copley \u2013 drums
\nIan Paice \u2013 drums
\nDamon Sawyer \u2013 drums
\nSimon Webb \u2013 keyboards
\nDon Airey \u2013 keyboards
\nDave Baldwin \u2013 keyboards
\nDean Ross \u2013 keyboards
\nBob Haddrell \u2013 keyboards
\nDavid Coverdale – vocals (track 6)
\nCherry Lee Mewis \u2013 vocals (track 8)
\nJoe Bonamassa \u2013 guitar (track 9)
\nMark Feltham \u2013 harmonica <\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tLinin’ Track
\n2.\tWedding Day
\n3.\tWalk Away
\n4.\tKinda Wish She Would
\n5.\tLadyfriend
\n6.\tTrouble
\n7.\tWho Do We Think We Are?
\n8.\tBad Blood
\n9.\tShine
\n10.\tDragonfly
\n11.\tYou Better Run
\n12.\tHoxie Rollin’ Time
\n13.\tNW8<\/p>\n

Label: Mystic Productions<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.berniemarsden.co.uk\/<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/berniemarsdenofficial<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 6.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — The first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Bernie Marsden \u2013 one of the most underrated guitarists of rock \u2013 is obviously Whitesnake in […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[10147,8734,2317,10327,2387,9278],"class_list":{"0":"post-47114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-bernie-marsden","9":"tag-blues-rock","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-mystic-productions","12":"tag-rock","13":"tag-shine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47114","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=47114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}