By Monk
The name Ronnie Romero should be more than familiar to our many followers of the classic rock genre, especially seeing as he has been involved in the most recent incarnation of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow project (in which he proved, IMHO, to be the rightful and long-overdue successor to the mighty RJD), as well as stints with guitar gods such as Michael Schenker and, most latterly, Richie Faulkner. Following two previous solo albums, both of which saw him pay tribute to his vocal heroes via his own interpretations, this is the Chilean singer’s first to feature all songs either written or co-written by the man himself.
To be honest, I hadn’t paid too much attention to the first two collaborations mentioned above, although (as intimated above) I was impressed by what I’d heard his re-interpretations of some of the old Rainbow toons, but was truly blown away by his majestic performance at Steelhouse this past summer (did we have a summer?), which grabbed by the balls and shook to the base of the mountain.
The Dio comparisons which Romero has evoked over the years are immediately evident on ‘Mountain Of Light’, which could easily have been ripped from ‘Rising’ or even ‘Holy Diver’. But, before you grab the wrong end of the stick, this is no criticism nor is this a pastiche of something that has gone before. Romero possesses a very similar tonality to RJD, and obviously has a great affection for him. He also possesses a love of the same style of epic power-infused operatic classic hard rock – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. So many others have tried to invoke that spirit and failed… Romero succeeds on every level.
Other historic vocal references are almost omnipresent, such as ‘Crossroad’, which is the sort of slide blues-infused broiler Mr Coverdale could easily have made his own, especially in the ‘Lovehunter’ era, but Romero succeeds in stamping his own identity herein. Similarly, he is not afraid to stray from the tried and trusted classic rock path, such as the indie-infused alliterations in ‘A Distant Shore’.
Overall, ‘Too Many Masters…’ may be steeped in the history of classic heavy metal, and understandably brings nothing new to the genre as a whole, but it is an affectionate, considered and beautifully executed homage by someone obviously genuinely in love with the music he is performing. A master of his craft – and that ain’t no lie!
- ‘Too Many Masters, Too Many Lies‘ is released today (Friday 15 September).
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