The Moshville Times - Album Review: Ricky Warwick

part 2) and… when he was touring the Crank album back in 1994!).

Blood Ties is solo album number eight and is a bit of a rocker. I absolutely adored the last handful, partly because of their laid-back, emotional tone so how prepared am I for Blood Ties? According to Ricky himself in the most recent interview we did with him it’s “definitely the heaviest solo record I’ve made”. So, yeah, more electric an less acoustic – that’s apparent from even the singles released so far.

I’d not say the songs are the heaviest Ricky has done as a solo artist, it’s simply that there are more of them in one place than before. There is a definite Almighty edge to the likes of “The Crickets Stayed in Clovis” which you can check out below. Listen up about 1 minute mark when the guitars kick in and tell me that doesn’t give you Almighty tingles. However, the rest of the song is very much more like his previous solo stuff and all the stronger for it.

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Ricky has dragged in a few co-stars as well. His last Christmas single featured Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott along with The Cult’s Billy Duffy, and three rocking household names pop up on Blood Ties. Duffy is present again on “The Hell Of Me And You”, the pair continuing an on/off partnership that goes back to their short-lived Circus Diablo project. Charlie Starr, from the awesome Blackberry Smoke, provides guitars on “Rise and Grind”, and the legend that is the amazing Lita Ford adds her own six string talents and voice to “Don’t Leave Me In The Dark” which was the lead single from the album… and a fine choice!

As it turns out, “Rise and Grind” is one of my favourite songs on the album, likely courtesy of Starr bringing the bluesy tones from his main act into the overall sound. A song about the daily chore of working to get by while making the rich richer, the subject matter goes back to Warwick’s punkier beginnings but with a very different sound.

“Crocodile Tears” is another lovely one, mixing a great chugging rhythm with a wailing melody. The bonus track “Not My Circus” is also a genuine rocker, though I’m not sure what makes it a “bonus”, maybe it’s only on some editions of the album.

While I’ll be honest and say I’m not as taken with Blood Ties as I was with the likes of When Patsy Cline Was Crazy that is a high bar to reach, and they’re also very different albums. Blood Ties is a great album, the previous stuff is simply more to my taste. This one acts as a nice bridge between the lighter material and the old school Almighty sound and I know will appeal to fans old and new alike.

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Blood Ties is out on March 14th

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