Quick Reviews: Elton/Brandi, & Smith/Kotzen

A pair of pairs. Sounds fitting, eh?

Elton John & Brandi Carlile - Who Believes In Angels?

I not only commend Elton John for being an artist who has continued to make albums even as the casual audience no longer pays attention to them, but for making some of his best albums during that period. I absolutely adore "Peachtree Road" and "The Captain & The Kid", even if the majority of people don't know they even exist. So what I'm going to say is not reflexive of older artists attempting to stay relevant in their late-career years: This collaborative album with Brandi Carlile is hugely disappointing.

That stems from two things; 1) Half of the songs are too swampy/bluesy to fit in their shared wheelhouse, and 2) The modern production ruins what could have been. The title track and "Never Too Late" are the best of what this could be, sounding like a true blend of classic Elton and Brandi. The problem is there are also songs like "Little Richard's Bible" that are mired in the earliest days of rock, cranked to the point of sounding unintelligible.

The album can never find its footing, because the production is distracting at every point. The more rocking songs are swamped (pun intended) in crushing compression and guitar tones that are so fuzzed and brittle the vocals almost disappear into the mix. There are too many times when the band drowns out the vocals, and even when they don't, Elton and Brandi don't quite feel like they figured out how their voices best blend. The bits of magic are too few and far.

They said this album was an experiment and a challenge to quickly produce... and it sounds like it. They really should have taken more time putting this together, because this is not a proper representation of what they are capable of.

Smith/Kotzen - Black Light/White Noise

I loved the debut album from Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith's unexpected collaboration. It was a bluesy bit of rock packed full of great harmonies and guitar solos. I didn't expect it, but that's part of what made it so great. When they followed that up with an EP of songs that was disappointing by comparison, I started to wonder if keeping the partnership going would prove it to be a fluke. We now have the answer.

In every way, this record is inferior to the first one. The songwriting and melodies aren't as sharp and don't land with the same force, the guitars don't sound as clear and heavy, and the entire production sounds a bit muddy and dull. When moments like the chorus of "Life Unchained" come around, rather than hearing the blended harmonies sparkle atop the crunchy guitars, it's all a jumble of sound that's hard to hear. I feel like I've been saying this about at least half the albums I've heard this year. What the hell's going on with production?

There isn't a single song on here that caught my attention the way nearly everything on the debut did. This record comes across being too laid-back, where it never actually feels like it rocks, which saps the energy from the already slow and bluesy nature. It turns the record into a bit of a slog to get through, and trying to find the gems in the haze of the sound isn't an enjoyable proposition.

If you look up the album on iTunes, it will say "a second album of anthemic rock and metal from two icons of heavy music." Well... the 'second album' part is at least true.