513. Hughes Turner Project / Hughes Turner Project. 2002. 2.5/5

I guess it was always going to be a given with these two singers, and their past history, that this album wasn’t going to be quite as good as I was hoping. There is no doubting the vocal chords of Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner, and their combined work in previous bands such as Deep Purple and Rainbow also proves they have what it takes. What it also proved is that both singers like to write their music a little on the softer side of hard rock, which creates a problem for me and my musical taste.

The songs here are caught somewhere between a pure rock ‘n’ roll and what I guess you’d call soft metal. They aren’t the kind of songs that are going to get radio airplay in most countries, and yet they would alienate most heavy metal fans for being just a bit too wussy. And in the long run, that’s how I feel listening to the album. I just wish they’d put some grunt in the instruments and really let fly with some heavier stuff. Instead, they have an album full of almost pop songs that don’t do a lot more than make me cringe.

There are a couple of songs on the album that are OK – and that’s the best I can give them too. Even those you are just waiting for the burst of real energy and grunt to take them to the level that would make them real catchy. I guess for those of us who knew JLT from Rainbow, and how their music softened considerably with his introduction to the band shouldn’t be so surprised. But I was hoping for more. If you are looking for something akin to what Rainbow had become by the end of JLT's reign, then you will probably enjoy this more than I did. In the end my expectations probably got the better of me, which has harmed the way I feel about the album.

Rating: A tad disappointing. 2.5/5.