Two words describe "Bridge The Gap" the latest from Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, baffling and brilliant.
Schenker has assembled a stellar cast of characters for this release. This lineup is incredible and I would hope that they will continue to record together. On vocals is once again Doogie White. The very in demand Wayne Findlay handles the 7 sting guitar and all the keyboards. Then there's the characters in the rhythm section Scorps alumni Herman Rarebell and Francis Bucholz. These guys really seem to work well together and in the case of Herman I think it's brought out some of the best playing I've heard from him in years. There's a lot of history with these guys both personal and musical and it comes through in the songs. If you like classic Scorps or Rainbow you'll be very happy with this one.
Let's peel back the jewel case and have a listen.
Right off the bat I have a major MSG moment. The opener "Neptune Rising" took me right back to "Into The Arena". It's not so much the music but the Teutonic feel that comes through. That segues nicely into "Where the Wild Winds Blow". This is where you need to buy the album. Buying singles or listening to bits and pieces robs you of experiences like this. These first two tracks taken together are classic Schenker and are perhaps the most "metal" stuff on here. This is also where the brilliant and baffling comes in. First there's the solo. Only Schenker could pull off an acoustic solo in a metal track like this and make it sound seamless and perfect. If you have any of his Thank You release you will appreciate this solo. If you aren't familiar with those releases, buy them! The second baffling part is that the remainder of the album sounds nothing like what you've heard so far. It's good and if you grew up on early hard rock and the beginnings of metal like I did the rest of the disc will still provide you with a shit ton of enjoyment. This is my top track on here.
Track 3 is "Horizons". The riff is very reminiscent of "We all Fall Down" by Blue Murder. Combine that with the overall feel of Rainbow and you get the picture. Of note is the great bass drum pattern from Herman. At first it sounds simple but he's doing a very cool beat on that bass drum. Schenker's solo on here really captures a great Blackmore vibe.
Next up is "Lord of the Lost and Lonely". Some nice fuzz bass from Bucholz on this one. It's the song where he's the most apparent. Lyrics harken back to something from Dio. Doogie really channels that spirit on this track.
That moves us onto "Rock and Roll Symphony". Very Deep Purpleish. Mostly due to Hammond but also Doogie really gets a great Ian Gillan vibe going on this one. This one is a great driving song and you'll want to listen to it again and again.
"To Live For the King" is a bit heavier than the previous three tracks but it still sits in that classic hard rock/metal vein. Very much something that would belong on Rainbow Rising.
Sometimes it's a curse to have listened to so much music and have it all rolling around in your brain. "Land of Thunder" brings one of those moments out. It kicks in and right away screams early Whitesnake. I'm talking pre 87 when most of America had no clue who they were. That started with the first vocal hmm that Doogie throws out in the first 5 seconds. It sounds like one of those Snake songs where the spirit of Purple's Burn was mixing with some blues. Then there's the the vocal hook. Every time I hear it I start wanting to sing the vocal hook from Priest's Exciter. At this point I start realizing there's a fair bit of the gallop from Exciter in here too. Well for me that adds up to a damn cool tune. One of my favorite tracks on the disc.
Doogie really shines on "Temple of The Holy". It's a very straightforward tune with a a nice snaky riff underneath and some tasty bass and drum grooving. Schenker does some soloing on this one. It's one of those songs where here he can riff on top of everything else and it sounds perfect. The first solo is short but then he comes back again and just riffs out for the rest of the song.
It's obvious that they put some thought into the track order. The next track "Shine On" has a similar dirge like tempo. Once again Doogie shows why he deserves some top vocal honors. As great as he sounds I would have loved to hear what the late great Ronnie James Dio would have sounded like on this one.
Nine tracks down and not a bad one in the bunch. Track 10 "Bridges We Have Burned" is not gonna break that streak.The tempo starts to pick up again and yet in a very clever turn this approaches a ballad. In a lesser bands hands this would have been turned into some horrible ballady pablum but in these capable hands we get a nicely powerful mid tempo rocker. Only coplaint I have on this one is that it sounds like Schenker's solo just gets cut off and it picks up later. Almost like he cut it in one take and then they chopped it into two sections.
Then there's track 11 "Because You Lied". On the first few listens I hated this tune. Yeah i said it. Then something weird happened. I listened to this disc A LOT. Suddenly I just started to appreciate the simple awesome groove on this one. I initially thought it was just some cheap throwaway filler but gradually it really began to grow on me. It may be that I started to here a certain Zep like element in there. Kinda weird but hey that's why ya gotta listen to stuff more than once. Did I mention I listened to this disc A LOT.
"Black Moon Rising" follows and it's got a certain odd eighties keyboard element in there that I would expect on a Robert Plant solo disc but vocally it's great and Schenker plays his ass off in the middle section. There's also some nice interplay between Bucholz and Rarebell that holds it all together.
Last up is "Dance For The Piper". I could see them doing this for an encore, One it has a very live feel. but also Doogie really pushes the higher range of his voice on here. Very much how you would save that vocal buster for the end of the set. This one also has in my opinion the most Schenker like solo on the disc.
So what the total on this one? Well first off I have to say that I've been a Schenker fan for a long time. There was a time when Schenker was the secret of those who were in the know. There's plenty of bands that were formed around a shared interest in Schenker and those who didn't know where not in the band for long. For those who have always been into Schenker I think this one is a must have. It's also a must have for those of us who where into all those early Scorpions albums especially Lovedrive.
For those who were into Purple or Rainbow again this one will satisfy that craving. I could continue like this but I'll make it easy if you only like extreme metal with cookie vocals then you'll probably want to take a pass on this. Otherwise it's real simple..Schenker.
If that's not enough it Schenker reunited with Rarebell and Bucholz. Still not enough? Doogie White at 53 stills sounds freaking incredible and Schenker had the good sense to bring in a killer wingman with Wayne Findlay. I said it at the beginning I hope that this is a unit that will continue to put out more great stuff. I love my thrash and power metal but I also really enjoy the groove and pure brilliance of stuff like this.
