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Snakecharmer Snakecharmer Review by Larry Toering Snakecharmer consists of former Whitesnake members Neil Murray and Micky Moody, along with others, namely Adam Wakeman on keyboards. Together they have a fantastic new release that is full of vintage blues rock power that contains the same basic ingredients as classic Whitesnake, but sometimes tends to sound more like Bad Company. I find this to be a good thing, because Whitesnake are still around, and why do that when they can stick to contributing to those eras in a more diverse way. Most of the record keeps that familiar ring, but also treads new water, as well. All in all, it makes for a hot release, and one they can be proud of in what isn't an easy time to accomplish such a thing. The vocals are strong, and it helps seal the whole disc with equally strong riffs to back it. The production is solid and must be mentioned, because these days I'm finding that a commodity that can be very hard to come by. This is a good album with nothing but fun written all over it, and it's great to see Murray and Moody just doing what they do best. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2013 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

My Angel This is a killer opener that wastes no time establishing the big grooves the disc has going for it. Excellent singing leads the way for this cut, as the vocals play a huge overall role as it is. Most of the songs are love oriented, and this is most obviously one of them.

Accident Prone The pace is kept up all the way here, as they get even more bluesy in the overall scheme of things. Talk about consistent, you can tell by the first few bars of this, what kind of record it's going to be.

To The Rescue This track follows a slower pace but loses no steam in the process, as a Paul Rodgers influence really starts to show. It's just hard to deny the vocal contributions at this point. The excellence is evident there and remains throughout this number.

Falling Leaves The whole band gets more complex here and almost goes epic in approach on this killer track. More of the same is going on but the ups and downs make it all the more interesting as they go.

A Little Rock & Roll If there is one stand out track, I think this might be it for me. This is undeniably awesome, as everything seems to come together perfectly on this fantastic piece, which I find to easily be one the best on offer here. It’s nothing clever, just the real hard rock thing is what makes this shine so brightly.

Turn Of The Screw In contrast to the raunchiness displayed on the prior track, this holds a much smoother pace and quiets things down just a tad, in what is yet another all around consistently good piece of music.

Smoking Gun This is almost a ballad approach but doesn't enter the sap zone in the process. It’s just another good number to keep the tempo changing.

Stand Up The great vocal meets with some of the most interesting lyrics on offer, and it really cooks. I liken this to some of the best material on the disc. In fact, it's one of the most enjoyable tracks for me.

Guilty As Charged This is the hardest rocking track on the disc, and the most Whitesnake sounding. Adam Wakeman comes on strong with a real sort of homage to Jon Lord feeling. This is another of the highlights of the whole release.

Nothing To Lose This follows the most Bad Company approach here, and it doesn't disgrace one bit in the process. In fact, it's rather justifying. This is yet another of the higher quality tracks, another one I really like.

Cover Me In You If the Paul Rodgers’ influence doesn't shine through on this, you've probably never heard him. For all its beauty, I find this to be one of the less exciting numbers because of that. This is still a great tune, just a little repetitive compared to the rest of the disc.

White Boy Blues This being the bonus track, I wasn't expecting as powerful a number. But it's an excellent song that easily belongs on the album with the rest. So, I'm glad they fit it onto the release in some capacity, because it's chock full of the goods.

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