Doogie White & La Paz are back with their third album since they reunited back in 2009. Doogie White and guitarist Chic McSherry are the main songwriters again, between them creating a fine piece of hard rock with nods to Rainbow, Deep Purple (check out the Hammond outro on ‘A Certain Song’) and more.
The little intros to most of the songs are a great idea, be it the piano/string led pomp on ‘The Prize’ (watch out for the guitar which comes flying out of the speakers when you least expect it!) or the car noises on ‘Retribution Blues’. The latter is a real foot stomper, with driving Hammond from Andy Mason (his keyboards playing is an integral part of the band’s sound) and Uriah Heep-approved harmony vocals.
Lyrically it can be a bit hard rock by numbers at times, like on ‘Miss Dynamite’ – although it is still a damn fine song and loving the harmonica intro and dirty blues riff. ‘Daughter Of Time’ sounds like Dio and Whitesnake jamming and what a powerful vocal from Doogie White. One of the album’s real stand out tracks.
La Paz are good at mixing things up, sure the songs are powered by a rock solid rhythm section and lots of guitar solos, but they add in little bits here and there, like a harmonica solo on ‘Faith Hope And Love’. It gives the music longevity and I still play their last two albums regularly some years later.
La Paz successfully take the classic sound of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Uriah Heep adding their own musical stamp on the proceedings. Damn fine classy hard rock, made to be played loud. ****
Review by Jason Ritchie