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Kelly Keeling has quite a resumé. He’s performed and/or recorded
with Baton Rouge, John Norum (Europe), John Sykes’
Blue Murder, MSG, King Kobra, Carmine Appice’s
Guitar Zeus, George Lynch (Dokken), Lana Lane & Erik
Norlander and Heaven and Earth, but he’s never stayed in a
band long enough to really make a name for himself. Travelling
around does have its benefits, though: Keeling has met a lot of
famous names, and he has persuaded a lot of them to participate on
his first solo album, “Giving Sight To The Eye”. The list of guest
musicians is impressive: Don Dokken, John Norum, Carmine & Vinnie
Appice, Kerry Livgren (Kansas), Mitch Perry (MSG),
Tony Franklin (The Firm, Whitesnake), Denny Laine (Paul
McCartney’s Wings, Moody Blues) and Roger Daltrey (The
Who), just to name a few.
On this album, it seems Keeling wanted to explore the whole range of
his musical interests, which results in lots of variation:
The album starts off with the very powerful “Rising Of The Snake”, a
first class melodic metal track. Apart from the drums, KK does
everything himself, very convincingly.
“Parasite” is a slower, bluesy song with a nice Hammond and great,
raw singing.
“Broken” wouldn’t have been out-of-place on a Glenn Hughes record. A
funky tune, with very Coverdale-like vocals and a prominent Hammond,
which make this song sound very much like a Deep Purple
(Tommy Bolin-era) track.
A
Beatles influence pops up in the slow “Perfect Day” (just
listen to that mellotron and the guitar sound). This song was
co-written by KK, Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin. Keeling again
tries his best to sound like David Coverdale. Great song.
The pièce de résistance of the album is “Ground Zero”.
Written by (and featuring) Kerry Livgren, this over 8-minutes-long
epic is exactly what you can expect from this ex-Kansas
member: a symphonic masterpiece, with lots of variation, great
lyrics, loads of emotion, angelic backing vocals,…. On par with some
of the best work Livgren has done for
Kansas,
Proto-Kaw, AD or solo. Keeling fits right in,
providing convincing vocals and great guitar work.
John Norum plays lead guitar on “Nothing”, a song not unlike Norum’s
recent solo work. Along with the opener this is the heaviest song on
the album. Not really my favourite, though.
Don Dokken makes an appearance on “Believe”, another highlight of
the album. A great melodic rock track with a nice melody, superb
vocals and some fantastic instrumentation. Great drumming from
Carmine.
There’s some more Beatles in “Sunlight Needs The Day”, a nice
acoustic ballad with some gentle singing.
“Hell Is On The Way” has an obvious Nirvana influence,
Keeling clearly mirroring his vocals on Kurt Cobain. A dirty, grungy
song with great guitar work. This song features Vinnie Appice (Black
Sabbath, Dio).
“Peace With The World” is an orchestral / acoustic ballad, which
reminds me of the Moody Blues. Some nice symphonic rock.
There’s some Eagles influences in “Jesse”, another marvellous
track, with Roger Daltrey and Danny Laine guesting. Yet another
different musical style.
On this album, Kelly Keeling shows he’s not only a great singer, but
also a fantastic guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He also proves
he can handle different styles of music convincingly. Supporters
will no doubt argue that Keeling is showing all his diversity on
“Giving Sight To The Eye”, others might find the album lacking
direction. Both are true, of course, depending on what you expect
from an album. As far as I’m concerned, this is a very satisfying
CD, which has increased my respect for Kelly Keeling immensely. |
