White; Doogie And La Paz: Shut Up And Rawk

Album number three on the comeback trail from Scottish rockers, La Paz (now with their frontman's name as a prefix), finds the band delivering the simple message, Shut Up And Rawk. And pretty much that's exactly what they do, the expected mix of Rainbow (well Doogie did sing with them), Dio – both his band and the RJD era of Sabbath and latter day Deep Purple, the starting and finishing point of this album. Credit to them, they do it well, the no surprises big riffage expertly delivered by guitarist Chic McSherry, while White displays over and over why he's work with Ritchie Blackmore, Ynwgie Malmsteen and now with Michael Schenker.

Stylistically there may be few deviations but where La Paz stand out is through the excellent arrangements and augmentations brought to the songs, the likes of "The Prize" opening with a short, unexpected burst of classical piano, while the atmospheric bells and glockenspiel which herald the chunk of riff that is "No Place In Heaven", catches the ear. Cleverly the glock reappears at the song's close, segueing into "The Revenge Of El Guapo", which brings an Enio Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack to mind. Admittedly these little flippancies are the cherry on top of a solid set of standard classic rock songs. However with the otherwise unsurprising guitar line that introduces album opener "Light The Fire" piercing through as though it is the skirl of the bagpipes, it really is these little spots of intricate care which set La Paz aside from countless late 70s, early 80s rock clones.

All that said, it's hard to suggest that Shut Up And Rawk will blow your socks off, its formula a safe one that we all know extremely well, and yet with a top notch singer, some great guitar lines and solos – and then the care and attention shown in the clever arrangements – you can't really go wrong. The wheel works perfectly well, so why reinvent it? Or to put it another way, simply stop complaining and Shut Up And Rawk.

Track Listing
1. Light The Fire
2. Heart Of Stone
3. No Place In Heaven
4. The Revenge Of El Guapo
5. A Certain Song
6. Retribution Blues
7. Daughter Of Time
8. The Prize
9. Faith Hope And Love
10. Throw Me To The Wolves
11. Miss Dynamite
12. Book Of Shadows

Added: June 5th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: La Paz on facebook
Hits: 2471
Language: english

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