The Winery Dogs in Vegas November 7th

new cd is great had it for about a week now

Sitting down for the first listen of the new Winery Dogs CD. Figured I’d grab a glass of pinot grigio and make some notes for those who don’t have it yet or will be interested in reading my thoughts.

Oblivion – In your face, ass kicker. This is exactly what you expect out of the gate for the Dogs. Great choice for the first single. Love the transitions between verses and the chorus hook and the guitar/bass/drum interplay. These guys have amazing chemistry.

Captain Love – Kicks off with a Sabbath vibe at the start. The main riff beckons Deep Purple to me. I hear “Perfect Strangers” in the verse. Chorus and solo break have a nice bouncy groove. The one standout thing about this band to me is their fills and transitions within the song structure. Portnoy and Sheehan lock everything in and Richie is right there with them. They’re a three piece rhythm section in so many spots.

Hot Streak – Love the syncopation of the main riff. Very cool how the simplest fills by Portnoy are perfect accents. This has a really funky/fusiony vibe in the chorus and the rest of the song is a “top down and drive” vibe. Kotzen is always on with his solos. He always tells a perfect story to the theme of the songs.

How Long – Sheehan and Portnoy drive this one. Again, the fusiony vibe is there and Richie’s vocals are accompanied by a matching guitar melody which is backed by Billy’s bass line. Mike is pushing this one along nicely with a tom driven fury. Another beautiful solo. I sadly became a Kotzen fan from the first Dogs CD. I never paid any attention to him before. Never knew what I was missing. Love his vocals and his guitar work is so emotional and soulful.

Empire – Uncharacteristically basic rhythm section on this one. Richie is on the slide guitar for the solo. That’s new. I find this track underwhelming compared to the rest so far. Not a bad song, just a pretty basic, straight ahead tune. Nothing is jumping out at me.

Fire – Wow! Out of left field. Piano, acoustic guitar and strings here. This is a beautiful song. First song I’ve paid attention to the lyrics. Having recently gone through a break up after a 2+ year relationship this one kinda struck a chord. First song I stopped and listened to a second time before going on to the next track. Beautiful and sad.

Ghost Town – Back to the Dogs!! Love this groove! It’s got a wide landscape, almost ethereal feel to it. Sounds like a Leslie amp on the guitar. One of the many things I love about Richie is his choice of chords. This is a fantastic example of this. In a three piece, you need open, spacious chords and loose notes to fill in and tell the story along with the right harmonies. This one speaks nicely all around and the solo is fantastic! Has a very Vai-esque feel to it yet it’s a driving rocker. Love it!

The Bridge – Love this! Lots of fusiony, funky, choppy syncopation which is one of the biggest things I love about Dream Theater. Always moving and changing and not just 4/4. This one feels like Mike may have written it. Haven’t looked at any credits. Has a DT feel. Not totally caught up in the chorus. It’s nice, but it’s not hooking me into it.

War Machine – Standard funky rocker out of the gate. Nice vocal delivery and I like the bridge/chorus work vocally. The song is pretty straight ahead. Not the crazy, off the wall playing. Nice song and I love the harmonies. Nice bass solo into an acoustic interlude with duel guitar or harmonized guitar. Not a fan of the processed harmonizer (which is what it sounded like), but it’s done nicely and only a filler.

Spiral – Bass driven riff on this one. Another ballad-ish tune, but it moves along nicely. Cool fluid bass line serves as the main riff with open chords played over it. Something seems like it’s missing to fill it in. Maybe need more harmonies or more guitar. Just realized it sounds like a disco/keyboard sample in the chorus ala Human League’s “Dont You Want Me” intro. The beat is very similar to that song as well. Heh.

Devil You Know – Nice hard driving tune. Reminds me of Mr. Big. Nothing really notable about this one. Straight ahead, half time chorus. The solo spot is crankin’. Great playing by everyone.

Think It Over – Richie on the electric piano. Very cool song. I love his piano playing and writing and he’s so soulful vocally on these songs. Very cool, but almost feels like the drums are a bit too much for the song in spots. Not too much. Just a couple spots. Another broken relationship song. Very nice.

The Lamb – Acoustic guitar and organ open this one, but that doesn’t last. A very cool arrangement on this one. Once again, the Winery Dogs’ patented driving beat. It’s got kind of a 5/4 tempo during the verse, then it switches to a 4/4 on the up beat through the bridge and then 4/4 on the downbeat for the chorus. At least that’s kinda what I’m hearing. The usual musical wizardry on this one. Solos are great.

Well, that’s the first pass through the CD. I’ll have to throw it in a few more times to get a total feel of the whole album. Great stuff! Pumped for Vegas!!