794. Red Dragon Cartel / Red Dragon Cartel. 2014. 3/5

Any one who grew up listening to Ozzy Osbourne's albums Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin knows that as good as Ozzy is, the star of those two albums is the guitarist, one Jake E. Lee. Despite a problem in acknowledging exactly who did write the majority of the material on those two albums, it is obvious that Jake was an overwhelming influence over the music and direction of the material, and his guitar playing is superb throughout, with signature solos that resonate through the ages. Upon his dismissal from the band he went on to form Badlands, another gem of a band whose first two albums are touched by brilliance. Despite the animosity between himself and lead singer Ray Gillen before he sadly passed away, both Badlands and Voodoo Highway are solid albums. And then Jake just seemed to disappear from the face of the music world.

Fast forward to 2014, and a sudden announcement comes to me of a new band bringing out their debut album. The band's name is Red Dragon Cartel, and is helmed by the one and only Jake E. Lee! How did this creep up on me so suddenly? No matter, I have to get this album. I have find out just what this person whom I so admired in my youth is going to produce 20-odd years after the last new material I heard him play. As could probably be expected, it's a bit of a mixture.
The album starts off on a positive cracking note, with a ripping guitar riff starting off "Deceived". Fast paced and heavy, this has all the elements to make the listener immediately stand up and take notice. "Shout It Out" follows with a slower paced hard drum sound, and vocalist Darren Smith testing both ends of his vocal range. This is very much in the alternative metal genre. "Feeder" features the vocal talents of Cheap Trick's Robin Zander, and reverts to a much natural hard rock themed tune. It is a good song, but perhaps rests on the laurels of the known vocalist than anything especially brilliant musically about it. "Fall From the Sky (Seagull)" is somewhat of a letdown, with the tuning back of all pretence of speed or rock, while Smith's vocals do struggle to sing in a register that makes it feel halfway suitable. Probably an opportunity to have someone else sing this song if it was going to work well. Which is amusing that it then leads into "Wasted" which has Paul Di'Anno bringing his rough and roughshod vocals into the mix, which sounds good but was also perhaps a lost opportunity to really add more metal to this track to also make it as promising as it could be.
"Slave" is possibly the heaviest song on the album, with a gutteral guitar riff and fast paced drums set off along with some great vocals from Smith, probably his best of the album. "Big Mouth" features Maria Brink from In This Moment, and is a slow paced heavy monster reminiscent of Godsmack. This is a real impact song from the band, very unlike Jake's typical style of song with slamming drums and amazing guitar work from Jake himself, while Maria's vocals set it all off perfectly. This was a real surprise packet. "War Machine" has a real Black Sabbath feel to it, both musically and vocally. It's a real stomping beat, and Smith even sings it in a way that is reminiscent of Ozzy in his Sabbath days (albeit in a much lower register). Great stuff. "Redeem Me" with Sass Jordan on vocals is a serviceable enough hard rock song, though without the fire and guitar hooks of previous songs. "Exquisite Tenderness" completes the album, and is a piano piece featuring just Jake playing, a mellow piece to finish the album with a reminder than he is not just a guitarist.

Though the use of guest vocalists along the way can tend to deceive you on how you feel about an album, this one holds up pretty well all the way through. It may not be perfect, but it is a joy to hear Jake E. Lee playing once again in a band situation. Hopefully it won't be the last.

Rating:  Bodies burning the whole world is turning insane.  3/5