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Release Date: March 8th, 2011
Record Label: Exile On Mainstream
My rating:
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Scott Weinrich has been a hugely respected musician for the best part of four decades, due to his exploits in bands like The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Shine, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Shrinebuilder, and the high profile Probot project featuring Dave Grohl and Lemmy. Great musicians always like to challenge their own creativity, and Wino is no different. He has decided to step into unchartered territory, in the form of an acoustic solo album. With personal experiences as underlying lyrical themes behind the music itself, I was anticipating a powerful release, and being a sucker for the acoustic guitar sound, I was literally shaking with excitement as I gave it a spin.
The title track "Adrift" is a delightful start to the album, and straight away makes me reminisce Rainbow's "Temple Of The King" because the vocal melody somehow creates the exact same atmosphere in my mind, which is good thing as I listen to the rest of the album with the wonderful memory of the late great Ronnie James Dio in the back of my mind. The track is short and sweet, like most other songs on the album and it fits the stripped-down style of music here, with just Wino on vocals and guitar. "I Don't Care" is more of an upbeat tune where the electric guitar plays a prominent part in augmenting the acoustic guitar and the raspy vocals.
"Hold On Love" follows, a very enjoyable tune that exudes great expression and emotion in Wino's voice. He takes it a step further with the next song "Mala Suerte", perhaps the most full-sounding track on the album with a constant rhythm guitar sound that makes only small contributions in other songs. "Old & Alone", as the name suggests, is more of a downbeat track in terms of its music, but Wino's powerful vocals give it the perfect balance. "Iron Horse/Born To Lose" is musically similar but stands out because it boasts of a very well crafted solo that's soothing to the grateful ears.
"Suzane's Song" is a beautiful instrumental tune that speaks volumes about Wino as a guitar genius. He is able to express himself solely by the use of his guitar. A true masterpiece, this track aptly forms the centerpiece of the album at number 7. The album has an excellent flow to it, as "DBear" sounds exactly like the most natural progression from its predecessor. It's a lyric-oriented track and doesn't have a guitar solo, although that doesn't belittle the song in the slightest. The chord progressions greatly compliment the vocals and make this tune stand out in its own unique way.
"Whatever" has some of the most easy-to-follow lyrics and is also the shortest song on the album, as it leads into a couple more short tunes, "Shot In The Head", which is more along similar lines, and "O.B.E" which is an instrumental with the most interesting musical arrangement on the entire album. It had a lasting impression on my mind and kept ringing inside of it for a while after I was done listening to the album. This unique composition ends with "Green Speed", which according to Wino has guitar arrangements he found to be more challenging than on any other track, and having listened to the song, I completely agree with him.
Overall, this will go down as a successful experiment and will add another feather to Wino's already decorated cap. The man has proved what a musician can achieve when he draws from his own experiences and puts his mind totally into composing music. The term "solo album" couldn't have been more befitting, as this effort is solely Wino on vocals and guitar, and consists of 12 tracks that bring back the album-oriented rock that was patented by the one and only Led Zeppelin during the dawn of the 70s.
A grippingly endearing, intense and enjoyable album that will take the listener adrift into a state of mental bliss.
Listen to "Green Speed" using our music player!
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