Rick Ray Band, The: Violence Marred By Peace

To Rick Ray's credit, despite the fact that he's a fiery guitarist with nimble fingers and deft fretboard technique, most listeners will find the wind instruments and the bass guitar to be the predominant sound on Violence Marred By Peace. Ray's earlier albums tended to revolve around on his guitar work, but with their focus on songwriting and a bigger soundscape, his more recent releases enhance his credibility as an all-round musician.

The wind section includes trumpet, trombone, tenor and soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and oboe - and there's a sort big-band meets blues rock ambience to many sections, a sort of of smoky, old-fashioned sound that's punctuated by blazing guitar solos - recalling, in parts, acts like Chicago or Blood Sweat & Tears. And of course when the guitar does come to the fore, Ray's athleticism on the fretboard is just as impressive as Rick Schultz is on reeds.

The cover are features a photo-shopped statue of liberty standing proudly above a huge open air crowd, with bombs, missiles and mushroom clouds overhead. That and the title, along with the clearly enunciated vocals, convey Ray's socio-political position to good effect. This is a song-oriented, album with abundant vocals. A notable exception is the title which is track essentially instrumental, with winds over a consistent, insistent rhythm, with spoken-voice vocals and an expressive two minute guitar solo.

Much of the music is fairly approachable, but there are more than enough angular and more interesting sections to keep your attention. In "Fifty Thousand Volts", for example, the music and the rhythm move at an energetic pace, under vocals that are strong but essentially monotone - relying on 'tude rather than melody, and ending with a long guitar-led instrumental jam. "Among The Fire" features another unconventional vocal style, and so does "Sgt. Pepperspray" - with a delivery, vaguely reminiscent of several '60s-era icons. Alex Abraham's singing is strong, and Rick Ray provides vocals for many of the songs himself - expressing himself more with expression than with technique.

The Rick Ray Band has has opened for an impressive list of artists - including Robin Trower, The Dregs, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, Peter Frampton, Kansas, Michael Schenker and Allan Holdsworth - and more. No surprise there - with its good musicianship and ballsy power, this music would probably translate very well to a live environment.

 

Track Listing:
1. Awake From Reality
2. Sgt. Pepperspray
3. Violence Marred By Peace
4. Fifty Thousand Volts
5. Among The Fire
6. Lunatic Serenade
7. Matthew
8. Tribute To What's His Name
9. Fan The Flames
 

Added: October 30th 2008
Reviewer: Duncan Glenday
Score:
Related Link: The Band's Website
Hits: 10397
Language: english

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