Lynch Pilson
Wicked Underground
Spitfire
Wicked Underground is the teaming up of two guitar heroes from many moons ago, both once calling Dokken their home. Jeff Pilson was the bassist for said band, and George Lynch laid down the mighty solos on Dokken classics, such as… ummm… well, he laid down the lead guitar tracks for them.
The press sheet that accompanies this record declares, “this ain’t no retro record.” I’m glad they came right out and told me that before they hit me over the head with about a million finger tapping solos! I was especially glad to have had that warning when Pilson started with his “boomp, boomp, boomp” basslines, a la Poison’s “Unskinny Bop.” Don’t get me wrong, both of these guys are incredibly skilled musicians. The guitar tone that Lynch has is very warm, crisp and shows a man who can not only play well, but who knows how to make his guitar sound awesome on tape.
The thing is, though, this is a “retro” record, regardless of whether or not they want it to be. The vocals are totally 1980s hair metal style. The aforementioned guitar solos are a trademark of 1980s mainstream metal, and the songs just have that balls out, macho, “ridin’ in a Camaro with mullet sailing proudly” sound. It’s OK guys, a lot of people still dig this kind of music.
Spitfire Records: http://www.spitfirerecords.com/
