There’s a big fat rock riff and great groove to open up ‘Vampin” and some smooth melodies to follow. With four albums in the last five and a bit years Lee Aaron is certainly back and much like on 2016’s ‘Fire and Gasoline’ and 2018’s ‘Diamond Baby Blues’ she’s in great voice and has the songs to back her up.
If you loved that opener then this is certainly one to pick up as it kicks along nicely, with first the radio friendly blues-tinged hard rock of ‘Soul Breaker’ which has a real vintage Pat Benatar feel, before the wonderfully melodic and rather ‘blue sky’ elation of “C’Mon’ which has a poppy aspect. That rather fine pair are followed by the irresistible chug of ‘Mama Don’t Remember.’ In truth it’s all rather impressive.
It’s the sounds of yesteryear’s Rock radio that this album promised and actually it manages to more than deliver on that count; and whilst you might wish for a little more ‘crunch’ at times the AOR focused production does capture the spirit of things.
Title track ‘Radio On!’ is another catchy poppier number with a big ‘hit the highway and drive’ chorus and nice riff and one of my top picks. ‘Soho Crawl’ adds some real rock and roll flavour and ‘Devil’s Gold’ takes things down, nicely changing the mood and giving Lee a real chance to show you what those pipes can do on a slower number. And the quality bar is kept high by the quirkier ‘Russian Doll’ which has a wonderful swing and isn’t afraid to stand out.
‘Great Big Love’ is the only track here really that doesn’t grab me instantly, but it’s full of swagger and sees Lee pull out another great vocal but I just didn’t connect; ‘Wasted’ however is another story – the slow number that has echoes of Heart and really works for me and builds to a soaring crescendo beautifully. We close out with the smoking ‘Had Me at Hello’ and the piano of ballad ‘Twenty One’ – you really have to hear this one, it could well be one of my favourite ballads in years.
As they say in the press release – “Like your favorite radio DJ coming over the airwaves on a hot summer night, Lee Aaron invites you to set your dial for a genuine rock ‘n’ roll listening experience…” It’s a great listen.
7 / 10
TRACKLIST
Vampin’
Soul Breaker
Cmon
Mama Don’t Remember
Radio On
Soho Crawl
Devil’s Gold
Russian Doll
Great Big Love
Wasted
Had Me at Hello
Twenty One
Line-up: Lee Aaron – lead vocals | Sean Kelly – guitars | Dave Reimer – bass | John Cody – drums
MORE INFO:
www.leeaaron.com
www.povertys-no-crime.de
www.metalville.de
www.facebook.com/metalville
