This is the second album from Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel, and after having a few problems with Darren Smith when playing live, he is back for this album. I really like the first album and I’m a big fan of Darren Smith as a drummer from his work with Harem Scarem, and I really like his vocal style too.
Opener, Speedbag, is a great modern melodic rock track with a nice vocal and groove. Second track in, Havana, was the first track released and is the best track on the album. The main riff and melody are killer and will have you humming away to yourself. Also nice to hear Jake ripping it up somewhat as there seems to be more leads on this album. Crooked Man has the same opening drum fill as Rock Candy by Montrose, but has a more downbeat feel to it. The whole album has more of a raw feel to it than it’s predecessor, and the use of fuzz pedals does add to that somewhat – listen to the tracks, The Luxury Of Breathing, and Bitter, to see what I mean. Chasing Ghosts is a really cool track as they are trying to do something new in a very tired format, and I really love that choppy riff and groove.
All in all it’s a good album, but doesn’t quite reach the heights of their first.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
