A hard rock album is like a piping hot plate of comfort food. You know what you’re gonna get and 9 times out of 10, it’s gonna hit the spot. The former is the case for the latest Gilby Clarke album, The Gospel Truth. Despite being his first album in nearly two decades, the ex Guns N’ Roses axeman comes out swinging with a collection of short, punchy, guitar centric rock tunes. Some cuts are blues based. Others boast R&B flavors reminiscent of The Black Crowes. At the end of the day, no matter what you call it, The Gospel Truth is old fashioned rock n’ roll. Old fashioned rock n’ roll which unfortunately misses the mark more times than not.
At its best moments, The Gospel Truth evokes shadows of Exile on Main St. era The Rolling Stones. On tracks like “Rock n’ Roll is Getting Louder” and my choice cut, “Violation”, Clarke plays in the same spirit as Keith Richard circa ’72, minus the heroin fueled rage. Despite having these occasional beefy riffs, what The Gospel Truth lacks is memorable hooks and melodies. The songs have a loose, carefree approach which is needed to make authentic hard rock. However, they’re to the point where I get the impression they were conceived in a series of impromptu jam sessions as opposed to being written, demoed, and fully fleshed out.
Another point of contention is Clarke’s vocal abilities. I wouldn’t go as far to say Clarke has a “bad voice”, especially in comparison to Yngwie Malmsteen or any number of guitarists who have no business singing, yet do so anyways. That said, his voice is rather limited and can be a bit grating on the ear. If Clarke’s guitars draw from the well of Richards, than his vocals do so from the well of Ace Frehley. Clarke’s mischievous speak sing approach works to his advantage on cuts like “Tightwad” and “She Won’t Fight Fair”. Both would fit in on Frehley’s ’78 self titled debut. As discussed in the previous paragraph, this album lacks the musical chops to let such vocals (or non-vocals) slide for its entire duration.
One thing Clarke could have done differently to improve The Gospel Truth is bring in an outside singer or two for certain tracks. I just can’t help but imagine how much of a boost the gospel tinged “Wayfarer” or bluesy title track could’ve had with say Myles Kennedy handling vocal duties. I’m sure there’s other examples that aren’t coming to my head at the moment, but when I think of modern hard rock singers who can belt a storm, I think of Kennedy. Besides, he did/does so for one GN’R guitarist. Who’s to say he couldn’t for another?
The truth is I really wanted to like The Gospel Truth. There are moments throughout that I do enjoy. I’d say I’m burnt on hard rock, but that’s not true because I just gave the new Dirty Honey a near perfect score. The problem with The Gospel Truth is that it wallows in the same clunky, middle of the road, blues infused pool as the latest Richie Kotzen album…which Adrian Smith is allegedly on, or at least his name appears on the cover. Those with a veracious appetite for nothing but hard rock might find it entertaining for a listen or two. Me? I’ll stick to my old GN’R records.
4 out of 10
Label: Golden Robot Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Ace Frehley, Richie Kotzen, The Black Crowes