Thirty-seven albums into a career that began with 1999’s Abnormal Road and Rick Ray still hasn’t run out of musical ideas? Incredible!
The Ohio-based guitarist and vocalist leads his three-man band through 78 minutes of guitar-heavy tracks straight out of the 1970s on The Gremlins Are Listening. A bit of backwards masking kicks off the title track, which is a hefty blues-rock monster that not only clocks in as the longest song here (at more than nine minutes) but also serves up an outstanding sampling of Ray’s stellar guitar chops. “Guitargoyles” sounds exactly like what its title suggests, “Waterloo” is a bass-heavy ballad that echoes The Allman Brothers Band and Warren Haynes, and “Innocent” recalls The Who. Reeds played by Rick “Sarge” Schultz, who co-wrote these songs, give “You Can Take It” added oomph and showcase the band’s willingness to shoot off in multiple directions.
Ray does most of the singing in a gruff, unfiltered voice on the eight vocal tracks here, while his guitar and band do the talking on intricate instrumentals like “Use Your Pinky Frank” and “Ladder Level,” along with the oddly named jam “Carole King’s Elbow.” And while the man shows no signs of slowing down, don’t press “play” expecting something all that different from Ray’s previous work. This isn’t an innovative album as much as it is a feast of sonic comfort food for fans of groovy progressive-tinged hard rock. The gremlins are listening -- and so should you.
Track Listing:
1. Escape Route
2. The Gremlins Are Listening
3. Use Your Pinky Frank
4. Waterloo
5. Atom Smasher
6. Innocent
7. You Can Take It
8. Wine And Clover
9. Carole King’s Elbow
10. Life Goes By
11. Guitargoyles
12. Ladder Level
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