The history of Rock is littered with the never ending saga of bands who split and reformed or splintered whilst continuing to tour and record with various line-ups and various members touting their version as the original. All fans really wants of course is the classic line-up reunited. Life isn’t like that though and some wounds seemingly never heal – like Skid Row for example, or the saga of the two Great Whites. L.A. Guns’ story is a little more complex than most though and the Steve Riley and Kelly Nickels version of the band on ‘Renegades’ have really captured the sound and feel of classic-era L.A. Guns.
What Renegades delivers is ten tracks of no nonsense Rock and Roll, sure there’ three ballads here, which might be a little much for some but there’s no denying the quality of either the harder or the lighter moments here. It’s also an album that doesn’t get old, the running order is pretty much spot on, and keeps on moving, keeping things interesting.
Everyone of course will have heard the three crackingly good singles to date, but the more I listen the more I’m convinced they’re not even the best here. So after the chunky no-nonsense ‘Crawl’ comes the rather catchy strains of ‘Why Ask Why’ which manages to harness that trademark L.A. Guns growl whilst sounding remarkably fresh and effortlessly cool. It’s a track sandwiched between that first single and the latest ‘Well Oiled Machine’ which captures that sleazy grind beautifully.
‘Lost Boys’ adds a little darkness; whilst ‘You Can’t Walk Away’ the first ballad is a great contrast and a song made to raise a light to: then comes the crushing riff of ‘Witchcraft.’ The track listing is perfectly balanced.
One of my favourites here though is the upcoming single ‘All That You Are’ that arrives next. It’s a with crunch and swagger a great melodies that almost give it a vintage Ozzy feel; and it’s followed by the third and lightest ballad ‘Would’ and the pedal-to-the -metal title track ‘Renegades’ which I guess is how some would see these two classic-era L.A. Gunners.
The last word goes to the Rock and Roll party that is ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ a huge fun song to go out with penned by Steve Riley (Catch my interview with Steve elsewhere on the site) it’s a song which is made to be played live and as a result a bittersweet way to end with so many of us not getting to see much live music at the moment.
This sounds like vintage L.A. Guns and if we can’t have the Classic era line-up back again I’ll certainty take two bands of the same name trying to outdo each other! Play it loud and enjoy!
8/10
TRACKLIST
Don’t Wanna Know
Renegades
Would
All That You Are
Witchcraft
You Can’t Walk Away
Lost Boys
Well Oiled Machine
Why Ask Why
Crawl
