Alter Bridge/ The Last Hero(2016)

 

 

New Release…

Alter Bridges  newest studio release The  Last Hero  crushes with Massive Riff’s along with  a Huge Dose of Melody with a Side Order of  Catchy Hooks tossed in!

Alter Bridge is….
Myles Kennedy – lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
Mark Tremonti – lead guitar, backing vocals
Brian Marshall – bass guitar
Scott Phillips – drums, percussion

Myles Kennedy I would say is the Best Rock Vocalist out there! This dude can sing underneath a massive eruption of volcanic riffs originating  from Mark Tremonti’s Guitar and Myles  does not sound ever like he’s gonna toss a lung in doing so! Speaking of guitar,Myles can handle himself on the guitar as well. When he’s singing in Slash’s solo deal Myles is just the singer but in AB he doubles up on guitar and this cat can play as he burns up a ton of catchy riffs most notably at the beginning of the opening track Show Me A Leader.

Tremonti is a beast on the 6 string! He has elements of all the Greats in his playing most notably bits and bites of Ed Van Halen with a smattering of Zakk Wylde thrown into the mix. Mark has a wicked deep backing vocal like tone that’s right in sync with Myles vocals.

How many bands can have two fantastic guitar players with one of them doubling as the Lead Vocalist? AB that’s who!

Don’t forget the Rhythm dudes supporting these two guys as well! Drummer Scott Phillips plays Heavy all over the map drums and they sound huge on this album and he floats the AB Ship with Brian Marshall who provides the bottom end and Beef’s up the sound with his Bass Playing.

The Song’s…

1. “Show Me a Leader” 5:05
2. “The Writing On the Wall” 4:28
3. “The Other Side” 5:55
4. “My Champion” 4:41
5. “Poison In Your Veins” 4:19
6. “Cradle To the Grave” 5:41
7. “Losing Patience” 4:10
8. “This Side of Fate” 6:48
9. “You Will Be Remembered” 4:42
10. “Crows On a Wire” 4:27
11. “Twilight” 4:15
12. “Island of Fools” 5:01
13. “The Last Hero”  

Case you’re wondering it’s 65 Plus minutes of Bombastic Rock the Kind of stuff I love…

Shall I decipher a few tracks for ya’s?!

Opener Show Me A Leader sets the pace and you have to hand it to these guys who start off in chill mode but ramp up pretty damn quick  and Show Me A Leader just crunches and sets the pace for the rest of the album! In other words you want Bombastic Power Riffs? Check! How about a dose of in your face drums? Check Check! How about a Singer who can sing over a complete Wall Of Sound? Triple Check! Full props must be made out to producer Elvis Baskette who has been working AB for a while now and captures their sound brilliantly! While you’re at click the video posted below and you will know what I mean!

Writing On The Wall begins with a relentless sound of Sonic Fury with all instruments mashed up with a Bell and once again were off and the thing is the Verses on this album are no doubt Heavy but at times AB toss in a real catchy riff or tempo change and then when the Chorus hits here comes the Melody! Yes these tunes are that good! Writing On The Wall is one of them as Myles vocals soar during the chorus. Dude is Vocal Gold!

The Other Side is another great track and I’m gonna let my Good Pal’s Myles and Mark explain it in under 2 Minutes! …Click the Video Below!

My Champion slows down somewhat and pushes a good message across about Good People doing Good Things. Thats the thing on this album is AB can incorporate even Acoustic Guitars without futzing out and going down Commercial Avenue and making it obvious. Sure this song may capture that somewhat and it would sound good on Rock Radio but who cares a Great Track is a Great Track!

Show Me A Leader just gets stronger and the material does not dip as the album heads to the finish line.

Crows On A Wire is one of those end of the album Gems that you always hear me go on about and that basically tells you the listener that there is No Filler Whatsoever! Crows On A Wire features a ton of epic power chords/smashing drums/thumping bass and a clever well written chorus delivered vocally by Myles! Some of the tracks even feature a synth buried somewhat under the mix of the guitars/bass/drums which only enhances the overall AB Experience!

Actually the last three songs on the album Twilight/Island OF Fools and the title track The Last Hero are all solid Gem Like tracks! Speaking of The Last Hero being the title track. I always love it when bands make this move by sticking the title track smack dab at the end of the album! Slick Solid Move!

AB has totally stepped up and blew my away with  this record! I have mentioned in a few other posts that I can only handle about 5 New bands that are currently out there playing hard rock. AB is at the top of the heap and its crazy to think that this is there 5th studio album. 5 albums in and they are getting stronger with more wicked material! The musical chops these guys posses is crazy good and what can you say about Myles Kennedy that already hasn’t been said? Love this Dude’s voice …..

One of the best New Releases I have heard this year!