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DPAS ALBUM REVIEW The Hughes Turner Project This is not a collaboration I'd have thought of, and my first concern was that Glenn Hughes would wipe the floor with Joe Lynn-Turner. This turns out not to be the case, with Joe giving one of his best recorded performances and matching Glenn stride for stride.
Overall, I really enjoyed this album and keep going back to it, which is usually a good indicator. The main downside is the standard of the guitar work, I know JJ Marsh is on there, but I couldn't really tell if it was him all the way through or not, he's a man I do rate very highly. The vocals, as you would expect, are of a very high standard. review: Michael Richards, photos: John Harrell |
The
details then: 1/ Devil's Road - A good driving opener, perhaps
a little too similar to Rainbow's 'Death Alley Driver', but the interchanging
of vocals at each verse sets the scene for the rest of the album. Both
parties putting a huge amount of effort into this. 2/ You Can't Stop
Rock'n'Roll - Some great integrated vocal lines, this time during
the verses. A decent guitar solo, but it could have been lifted straight
off 'From Now On'. 3/ Missed Your Name - Quite a bit faster this
one, and as a result both vocalists seem to be straining themselves
to keep up. Awful solo, just doesn't fit the track at all. 
4/
Mystery of the Heart - First power ballad of the album, and this
one is handled just by Joe. He performs this really well and the track
is a highly polished end product, but I have to say that this sort of
stuff just washes over me. 5/ Sister Midnight - A really funky
number which would fit on any Hughes album. I expected this to be just
his vocals, so it was something of a surprise to hear Turner adding
the second verse. 6/ Better Man - I really enjoyed this one,
it took a while to figure out what it reminded me of, but then when
you get it, it's really obvious, it's 'Sail Away', and the more you
listen to it, the more you recognise bits. Hughes really lets rip on
this one. 7/ Heaven's Missing An Angel - Second power ballad,
this one handled by Hughes, not as good as the Turner track, it could
have been lifted straight off a late eighties Whitesnake album (it's
that bad, really!) 
8/
Fade Away - This one takes a while to grow on you, the vocals are
really impressive as you'd expect, but it does need a killer guitar
solo adding to it. 9/ Ride the Storm - Another driving number,
a bit too Yngwie for my liking, Hughes' vocals change the style a little,
but Turner's are too formulised. 10/ Run Run Run - Both of them
really flex their vocal chords here on possibly the best track on the
album, which also contains a really good guitar solo, at last, even
though it is very short. 11/ On the Ledge - Seems to have quite
deep lyrics this one, in a similar vein to 'Into the Void' and 'Don't
Want to Live that Way Again', and may well be about the usual illegal
substances that both of these guys have had issues with... and if that
isn't Keith Emerson on the keyboards, it bloody well should be!