A sequel more than worthy of the original - In the last few years I have rediscovered the music of Glenn Hughes. Having only heard Glenn s 80s stuff which by all means wasn t that impressive, I went on a whim and bought Voodoo Hill simply because I liked the guitarist Dario Mollo. I could barely recognize the vocalist. Was this the same man from the less than enthusiastic Black Sabbath lineup of the mid eighties?This finally encouraged me to seek out more Glenn Hughes material including Deep Purple and his own solo material. Finally I wondered upon the first Hughes Turner Project featuring, of course, Glenn and former Rainbow and Deep Purple vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. While I liked his Deep Purple contributions (though it was extremely short lived) I cant say his Rainbow material ever grew on me. The Hughes Turner Project CD proved that my distaste for JLT was only skin deep and wasn t a reflection of the enormous talent the man posesses. The combination of the two of the most underrated vocalists in rock made for one hell of a CD.Finally I opted to get the sequel, expecting another valiant and enjoyable effort, but in return I got was is damn near a flawless CD. The vocals display much more emotion that its predessor and the music has a wider range. From the ultra heavy, to the ultra melodic, to the ultra soulful, this disc only took a few spins before I realized it would not be leaving my CD player anytime soon. Sadly, Glenn has informed the public that this will be the last HTP CD. And while that is bad news for fans like me who yearn for more, if ever there was a way to go out, then this is it!
Hughes and Turner Sound Great - First know that I m an old Rainbow/Blackmore/Purple fanatic and felt cheated that Turner only put out three albums with Rainbow. On a chance trip to the record store, stumbled on Turner s latest JLT....give it a 7 out of 10, but good enough to get me looking for more. Then stumbled on the first HTP effort. Again, sounds good, but not great. Yet good enough to drop another $20 on HTP2. This is the most surprising, awesome, modern, jamming CD I ve heard in a long time. The biggest difference between this and the first HTP album is how well Turner and Hughes voices are integrated in every song. Going my Way sounds like a long lost Rainbow track...I even looked to see if it was Blackmore on guitar for that song. If you were a Hughes fan with his early Purple or Gary Moore days, his voice has never sounded better. The songs are very upbeat, melodic, modern and worth listening to over and over. Turner s voice sounds great, a little raspy at times, but very good. Time and Time again is a very Street of Dreams sounding song. My favorite song is Hold On, a Rush-riff driven song that Hughes nails the vocals on in the verses and the duo nails the choruses...very Mk III Purple-ish. If you like Rainbow, Purple, Turner or Hughes.....GET THIS CD
Rock n roll is not deat - I never thought that Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner would follow up the Hughes Turner Project album from last year. But now they have, and I must say that this album, titled HTP II is nearly as great as the first one. The majority of the songs are solid rock tunes in mid tempo with a perfect blend of the heavy and the melodic. A lot of the songs have a harder approach during the verses and a softer, more melodic chorus - a touch I think is very appealing! This album holds a lot of references to hard rock from the past, for example Losing my head have a Kashmir-sounding-riff, while Time and time again reminds of the Rainbow semi ballads. But don t worry, the songs have a lot of originality to them and there s no rip off s. Rock n roll is certainly not dead, something this album (along with others, like Deep Purple s Bananas) prove. Highly recommended!
Rock n roll is not dead - I never thought that Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner would follow up the Hughes Turner Project album from last year. But now they have, and I must say that this album, titled HTP II is nearly as great as the first one. The majority of the songs are solid rock tunes in mid tempo with a perfect blend of the heavy and the melodic. A lot of the songs have a harder approach during the verses and a softer, more melodic chorus - a touch I think is very appealing! This album holds a lot of references to hard rock from the past, for example Losing my head have a Kashmir-sounding-riff, while Time and time again reminds of the Rainbow semi ballads. But don t worry, the songs have a lot of originality to them and there s no rip off s. Rock `n roll is certainly not dead, something this album (along with others, like Deep Purple s Bananas) prove. Highly recommended!