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| GRANITE - New album by La Paz |
Review by : Pyotr Spyra, Rock Area (Original in Polish and translated) I'm surprised. It seemed to me when Doogie White released his solo album that he could be an artist teetering on the brink of tiring out his fans. Anyway, despite that, the record was good, solid, and sometimes had flashes of genius ... Earlier (not that long ago anyway) the singer debuted with TANK, and even made a guest appearance in Raven. So I admit that the news of "GRANITE" and the reformation of his first band La Paz made me a little worried. Do you not sometimes worry about his voice, and worse, worry that he runs out of musical ideas for his projects? So I reached for GRANITE with some hopes, but with considerable apprehension. My reaction to the first riff was very enthusiastic. I could not sit still! For God's sake - at one point I even danced! I will say with all honesty that from the time Doogie White first appeared on the Rainbow album - this is definitely the best material with him behind the microphone. If it hadn’t been icy outside that day then I would have got on motorbike, or even grew a beard in a hurry (a long one- like the guys from ZZ Top)! Just an incredible energy – the pure joy of playing hard rock - and this time, oriented more to guitar playing with the keys more in the background. This creates the impression of being into the music and keeps you more in the spirit of the Rainbow than Purple - and this is definitely a nice change. Nine compositions are included on the disc, sometimes they are predictable, but even during the first listen I was able to sing more than one hook ... it turns out that this formula works. The power of simplicity. As often happens in rock music, some of the song subjects tend to be somewhat trivial, but they also seem to be incredibly honest! "Granite" is an album that contains nine potential hits and it is difficult to point to my favourite. Perhaps my innate love for the slightly more complex forms will not let me leave without comment on the last song, “Shame The Devil”. It's unbelievable how quickly time passes on the nearly 10-minute song! Listen to it loud. The song should be the radio single - it is amazing in its assertiveness and defines the rest of the album. When you get to the end you will want to hit "repeat" on the player. And yes, "Stranger in Us All," it is not ... but "Granite" makes my yearning for that album fade somewhat. 9/10 Peter Spyra
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The album was recorded in Scotland but mixed by the highly respected Rolf Munkes in Empire Studios, Germany.
We hope that the music will speak for itself, however the objective of the album is not to chase the glory days of youth: it's an album we are all intensely proud of and we are delighted that people will have a chance to share this part of the journey with us.
La Paz are:
- Doogie White - Vocals
- Chic McSherry - Guitars
- Andy Mason - Keyboards
- Alex Carmichael - Bass
- Paul McManus - Drums
Doogie White is well known for his work with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jon Lord (various live concerts), Cornerstone, Tank and Michael Schenker to name just a few whilst Paul McManus is the current drummer with GUN.
We think that when you listen to the quality of the song writing, the enthusiasm of the band and the professionalism of the playing you will agree - this is an album worth releasing.