When I initially got the press release for Blackbird Angels, the latest Frontiers concocted supergroup, I was all ears. Tracii Guns on guitars? You’ve already sold me. I’ve said time and time again that from both a recording output and live performance standpoint, L.A. Guns are the best of the ’80s glam metal crop still going at it, and none of their peers come close. Considering the high caliber of their reunion outings, surely I’d check out a side project featuring the talents of their namesake. Add Slash’s secret weapon Todd Kerns on vocals and you’ve got a one-two punch of hard rockin’ badassery.
Upon reviewing the last L.A. Guns album, Black Diamonds, I couldn’t help but notice the Zeppelinisms throughout. These one time undertones were now more evident than before. I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Guns has, on many occasions, espoused his love for Jimmy Page, even going so far as to incorporate a violin bow into his live guitar solos. So I guess when the opportunity to make an entire Zeppelin flavored album presented itself, Guns took that opportunity and ran with it. If anyone was going to do so, it was him.
Unlike most Zeppelin inspired outfits of late, Blackbird Angels play with finesse and fire on their debut album, Solsorte. The explosive opener that is “Shut Up (You Know I Love You)” does an immense job at establishing the mood of this outing with a killer guitar riff and stratospheric vocals from Kerns. Despite being best known for holding down the low end for Slash, Kerns can belt out vocals with the same barbaric power as Robert Plant and Steve Marriott circa the early ’70s. We just needed an album of this nature for him to do so.
Scattered throughout Solsorte are high energy anthems like “Mine (All Mine)”, “Only Everything”, and “Unbroken”, which would sound as at home on a ’70s or ’80s hard rock album as they do on this album in 2023. The funk-infused groove attacks of the aptly titled “Coming in Hot” and “Broken in Two” serve as commendable palette cleansers, as do an array of ballads that are dynamic both musically and lyrically. Whether it be the bluesy “On and On / Over and Over”, dreamy “Better Than This”, or thought-provoking “The Last Song”, the gentle moments of Solsorte manage to be as compelling as the hard moments, which speaks volumes for an era in which the power ballad format has been beaten to a pulp.
At 11 songs and nearly 47 minutes, Solsorte runs a tad longer than most releases of its nature, but without overstaying its welcome. The songs are piping hot, as are the players themselves, who together comprise one of the finest Frontiers curated projects of recent memory. Not only that, but I find myself enjoying Solsorte more than even the last L.A. Guns album. Perhaps Guns has found his late career calling? Whatever the case may be, I hope Blackbird Angels fly on for many years and albums to come.
8 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie, Fastway