BLANCAWHITE - Resurgence Of Rock (2012)

*

BLANCAWHITE's "Resurgence Of Rock" is the brainchild project of international lawyer and Hard Rock fan Ken Savage, who think that there isn’t many music today that celebrates ‘80s classic rock. So a couple of years ago took out his legal pad and began writing lyrics.
Helped by Austin Schell, who according to the press release "is a consummate musician, composer & arranger and a veteran of the Austin, Texas music scene", he took the basic building blocks of classic hard rock and put them together with Savage’s lyrics to create come fresh songs that mixes sounds of the '70s and '80s with a modern-day perspective.

The interesting side of this project is the fact these guys have managed to pull-in a bunch of legendary singers to perform their songs: Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, King Cobra), Lorraine Lewis (Femme Fatale), Terry Ilous (XYZ, Great White) and Jeff Paris, a singer in his own right, but also a songwriter for many acts such as Vixen, Cinderella, etc.
I was excited to hear Jeff Paris and Lorraine Lewis getting something out again, while Shortino and Ilous can sing anything and make it sound decent.
Well, it isn't exactly the case here. The major problem resides on the weak production and the musicians involved (not listed) are really technically poor, specially the guitar players.

Anyway, there's some to enjoy from the singers.
The best is Paul Shortino, who in the rockin' title track "Resurgence Of Rock" mentions many of the great hard rock acts of the '80s, and on the cool and party song "Livin’ It Up" his raspy voice sounds pretty good.
Jeff Paris is singing "One For The Ages" and it’s OK, not a classic Jeff Paris vocal as the song is a classic rock tune, and he tries to fit that mould. On "Take Me Back", an acoustic melodic rocker, Jeff does a decent job as well, although production ruins what could be a better track.
Well that's all for me, as the performances on the remaining tracks are really bad...
Lorraine Lewis is misspend here: "Still Turnin' Heads" is the more potable, but where she really sounds terrible (like an old witch in bad fairy tale) is on "Hundred Years War", the worst song I've heard in Ages. A shame.
Same with Jeff Paris' "Another Hotel Bar" and Shortino's "Woman Side / Famous Last Chords", they can't help in no way, as the songs are truly bad and the guitar work is simply horrible. I can play better chords than that.


We at zerodayrock only recommend what we consider good material. Several albums are discarded day by day to be reviewed here.
This time we made an exception as many of you are real fans of the vocalists involved. Some performances are acceptable, some not, but it isn't the singer's fault in our opinion, just the terrible production guidance and the weak songwriting.
Give it a listen, you decide.


01 - Resurgence Of Rock (Paul Shortino)
02 - One For The Ages (Jeff Paris)
03 - Your Boyfriend Is Lame (Terry Ilous)
04 - Take Me Back (Jeff Paris)
05 - Livin' It Up! [n a Mexican Bar] (Paul Shortino)
06 - Still Turnin' Heads (Lorraine Lewis)
07 - Another Hotel Bar (Jeff Paris)
08 - Hundred Years War (Lorraine Lewis)
09 - Woman Side / Famous Last Chords (Paul Shortino)



BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/Resurgence-of-Rock/dp/B00750J37Y