There are a lot of all-star hard rock projects floating around these days, and here's the latest, called Hollywood Monsters. The brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Steph Honde, the line-up also features keyboard player Don Airey (Deep Purple, Rainbow, MSG, Ozzy, Whitesnake), drummer Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell), bassist Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus), Paul DiAnno, and others. This is late '70s/early '80s styled heavy rock, with Honde's capable riffs & solos driving these catchy tunes that also contain some exceptional vocals. There's a strong Whitesnake/Deep Purple feel to "The Only Way" thanks to Honde's vocal style, which is very close to vintage David Coverdale, and Airey's Hammond organ roars to life on the hard rocking "Move On", a tune that also sees the ever dependable Bogert rumbling mightily alongside the solid Appice. The more acoustic based tunes like "The Cage", "Oh Boy!", and "The Ocean" again have a bluesy, Whitesnake feel to them, while "Underground" is one of the heavier tracks here, crushing riffs from Honde blasting up against the furious pounding of Appice in fine Jorn or Dio era Black Sabbath fashion. "Village of the Damned" follows similar doom laden territory, another crushing metal number that just screams epic heavy metal. Honde's buddy DiAnno lends his snarling vocal to the punk/metal attack of "Fuck You All", a raucous, slightly out of place, yet ultimately fun bonus track included on the CD.
With a cool cover photo of King Kong battling a T-Rex over a crumbling Capitol Records building, the music contained inside of Big Trouble is just as much fun. Plenty of solid hard rock & metal to be found here, as Steph Honde proves to be a very capable guitarist & vocalist, who brought along some notable friends to help make his vision a reality. Now he needs to make this a permanent band with set musicians so he can take things to the next level.
Track Listing
1) Another Day in Grey-Part 1
2) Move On
3) Big Trouble
4) The Only Way
5) The Cage
6) The Ocean
7) Oh Boy!
8) Underground
9) Village of the Damned
10) Song For a Fool
11) Fuck You All-bonus track
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