Guitarist Vivian Campbell had had a roller coaster ride through the decade of the 1980’s, one that had taken him to the highs of the music business. He started out in the UK band Sweet Savage, as they rose on the back of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, his guitar was a dominating influence on their sound. Then on the recommendation of Jimmy Bain he was recommended to Ronnie James Dio, who had just parted ways with Black Sabbath and was looking to form his own band, which Vivian jumped at, and became an integral part of the iconic first three albums that the band Dio produced. After being fired after a disagreement over money, Campbell was picked up by Whitesnake essentially as a replacement for John Sykes, who had just co-written the enormous “1987” album, and Campbell completed the tour with the band to support that release. Once this was over, Campbell again found himself in an argument with the band leader, after he was told that he would not be asked to make any writing contributions to the band as Coverdale felt he and fellow guitarist Adrian Vandenberg were the best combination to do that. Having felt as though he was just a hired hand in Dio, Campbell admitted in later interviews that he did not want to be in that position once again.
Around the same time, an LA based band named Aircraft had been doing the rounds of the Whisky a Go Go and the Troubadour and other popular venues over a couple of years, before disbanding in 1987. Once this had occurred, the band’s drummer Alan DeSilva got in contact with his fellow former bandmates, vocalist Rob Lamothe and guitarist Nick Brophy and the three formed a new band called Riverdogs in 1988. The band moved forward with trying to establish itself, and this is where Campbell became involved. He began helping out Brophy with guitaring, and as a result became involved in helping the band to produce some demos. Through this process, Campbell became so impressed with the band and the sound they were producing, that he made a decision that in retrospect still seems an amazing one. He decided to leave Whitesnake, and join Riverdogs. Now, while that appears crazy, there is no doubt that Campbell was still smarting from the situation that played out with Dio, and he obviously had no intention of being put in that position again. And perhaps he saw an opportunity with this new band, one he could get in on the ground floor with and be an equal partner in.
To accommodate the recruitment of Campbell in the band, Brophy moved to bass guitar duties. Based in Los Angeles, the band also brought in Mike Baird on drums to record their debut album. The self-titled album was released in mid-1990, in retrospect up against some heavy hitter albums, including Campbell’s former band. With the changing music landscape around them, the question being asked was could they find a way to fit into that landscape, and also was their record company marketing them in the right way to achieve that.
In many ways the sound that the band stick to for this album is rather surprising for the day and age. Creating what is essentially a blues hard rock album in 1990 seems so far away from what every other popular form of music was at that time. The fact that they can pull it off at all is down to the musicians in the band. And what probably hurt the band the most was that the record company insisted on promoting the band on the back of the pedigree of their guitarist. Now you can’t blame them for that as such, as having someone who had been such a prominent part of two huge heavy metal acts would obviously have given them the ammunition to promote this album and band in the same genre against those musicians. The problem was – this album is in no way a heavy metal album, and promoting it to headbangers around the world was probably a mistake in the long run. This is an album where searching for scintillating Vivian Campbell solos is completely useless, because they don’t exist. There are nice riffs, there are some great musical passages, but there is not even a semblance of any metal in this recording. Everyone coming to this album for any of that was poorly directed. But we’ll come to that.
Perhaps what is the thing that most will pick up early on is that songs... all really sound very similar. The basic song structures remain through most of the album. They are built on the inoffensive bluesy riffs of the guitars, the steady singular pace of the music, solid and efficient rhythm of drums and bass guitar. Everything seems to sit in the same steady stream, all of which works nicely and is enjoyable for those that enjoy that kind of thing.
The two standouts on this album are the vocals of Rob Lamothe and the occasional bursts of energy from Viv Campbell. Viv offers some nice solo pieces in songs, different from what he had done in the past but still offering a glimpse at his natural talent on the instrument. The solo through the middle of “Big House” is excellent, as it is on “Holy War”, one that provides the highlight of the track. And on this album, Lamothe puts himself forward as an excellent vocalist in this style of music. Even if you aren’t a particular fan of the music, Lamothe’s performance does lift this above the average by his efforts.
The songs here are therefore, for the most part, driven by Lamothe's vocals and Viv's guitaring. I don't mind admitting that the opening track to the album, "Whisper" is one of my all-time favourite 'guilty pleasure' tracks, one I can play at any time and sing along to at the top of my lungs. I love the feel of "Water from the Moon" as well, and in a similar vein musically to “Whisper” it has a great mood and guitar riff and solo, as well as those dulcet vocals again. “Baby Blue” on the other hand sounds like a blues up version of The Cult. It is mostly the second half of the album that really sparks up, though if you hope that means in regard to the tempo and excitement than I’m afraid I have bad news for you. Those songs that include "Rain, Rain", "Toy Soldiers" and "Spooky" do not contain much different from the other tracks on the album, but enough to have them mark their territory in a blues rock drenched release.
Back in 1990, Vivian Campbell was still my guitaring hero. Despite his falling out and dismissal from Dio, for which his contribution was critical and magnificent, and his subsequent flirtation in the touring band of Whitesnake, he was what I wanted to be had I ever gotten off my backside and learned to play the guitar. But what I did do was, from the time he left Dio, I began searching through every means possible (mostly in vain) for every time he was mentioned as having joined another band (Whitesnake was his first stop, no matter that it was a short one) or was rumoured to be being considered for another band. Then, one day in Australia's "Hot Metal" magazine, I discovered it. He had joined a band called Riverdogs, and their debut album was about to be released. So off I trotted to Sydney's Utopia Records and purchased said album.
With all of this in mind, you must now be of the opinion that I am going to be slightly biased as to the outcome of this album. And for the most part I won’t deny that this is certainly true. The first thing to glean from this is that “Riverdogs” is not a metal album, but a comfortable hard rock experience. My excitement in finding this CD on that trip to Utopia Records back in 1990 was tempered almost immediately by complete and utter disappointment. It was hardly anything like what I had been hoping for, that of course being Viv ripping riffs and shredding solos like the days of old, and a band and album that reflected the kind of heavy metal experience that I wanted. I guess I was hoping for a band that was Dio but with a different singer, and I didn’t get that. Once I got over that initial disappointment, I did give the album a fair listening, and I found that it wasn't as bad as my first impressions allowed. Rob Lamothe's vocals are terrific and given the passing of 35 years now since this release I find it amazing that he hasn't gone on to more prominent things. The change of the musical landscape in the 90’s probably didn’t help.
For me it is a guilty pleasure album. I know that when Helen hears me playing it she screws her nose up and says that there is nothing in the music, its dull and boring. And while I don’t completely agree with her, I know what she means. It is a long way from the music that I usually listen to. And if Vivian Campbell had not played on this album, not only would I never have thought of buying or listening to this album, I would probably also think it was very average. But that can be the rose tinted glasses that come with favourite artists or bands. Sometimes, no matter what your head tells you, your heart tells you something else. As I have gotten older, is it really a surprise that I find myself enjoying this album more? Probably not. It has an 'easy listening' kind of vibe to it these days, reminding me of days gone by. In some ways “Riverdogs” was, and is, an underrated album. Certainly the musicianship is very good. The STYLE of the music is what would turn away any possible converts.
I have had this album on again for the last week, acting mostly as a background soundtrack to my work days. It has been inoffensive, but to be honest I have over played it. This is an album that should be given an occasional listen and then placed back in the CD shelves until the next time. Repeated playing's found me considering Helen’s ‘dull and boring’ comment and thinking she wasn’t far off the mark. Still, if for nothing else, I will always find this album when I need to hear the opening track, the one that is still a favourite after all of these years.
