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Discography: M.A.R.S. /Project Driver (1986); Impellitteri - Selftitled (1987); Joshua - Intense Defense (1988); Angelica - Selftitled (1989); Driver - Selftitled (1990); Axel Rudi Pell - Nasty Reputation (1991); Impellitteri - Grin And Bear It (1992); Impellitteri - Victim Of The System (1993); Impellitteri - Answer To The Master (1994); Impellitteri - Screaming Symphony (1996); Impellitteri - Fuel For The Fire (1997); Impellitteri - Eye Of The Hurricane (1998); Impellitteri - Crunch (1999); Various Artists - Randy Rhoads Tribute (2000); Rob Rock - Rage Of Creation (2000). Available through: Massacre Records & Rob Rock website:Rob Rock Article work-out by: mpo Date: December 22nd 2000 |
Last month Rob Rock released his first solo album through Massacre Records in Europe. The CD was previously released in Japan through JVC/Victor. Rob Rock wrote and recorded this album with Roy Z, who's known for his work with Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford. The goal of this article is the give you some extra information about the album, given to you by Rob Rock himself. _____ "This album is a longtime goal that I've had over the years," so remarks the worldwide renown singer, "that finally came about. And I'm very happy to say that I'm really pleased with the results. And I think after you heard the album that you'll also agree that it's the best album I've ever recorded." First of all, Rob Rock gives you a short outline of his musical career: "My recording career began with the 1986 worldwide release of M.A.R.S. Project/Driver. That album featured Tony MacAlpine on guitar, and Ozzy Osbourne, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Tommy Aldridge on drums. This album has been like a classic metal album since its release. It was a great way to start my recording career." "Meanwhile," Rock goes on pointing out, "I continued to release a number of recordings over the years with a lot of guitar heroes like Chris Impellitteri, Roy Z, Axel Rudi Pell, Joshua Perahia, and Dennis Cameron. And I spent the majority of the nineties in the group Impellitteri where we recorded six albums and did three tours with that group. And over that time I began to wish to do a solo album. And once JVC/Victor in Japan was also interested in it, it finally after four years of prayer and waiting, we got an agreement on the budget and the timetable and I was abled to make the solo album." Wanting to make an album is one thing, the making of it another! This singer was abled to get a fine line-up of songs on Rage Of Creation. He explains how he got the songs together for this solo album: "I decided to get together with my good friend Roy Z. We had wrote some great songs together back in 1989 and 1990 when we were in the band called Driver. And I knew I had like thirty songs that we wrote back then on demo. And we listened to them back and we picked five or six songs that still sound great today. And so we decided to take those songs and rewrite them. We took the hooks that we liked. And any other parts that we liked we kept and the parts that we thought were a little weak we just rewrote and made them modern. So, this album, Rage Of Creation, is a mixture of five or six brand new songs that we wrote and five songs that have pieces from the past, from the Driver days, that stood the test of time." So, here it is, Rage Of Creation. What does Rob Rock think the production of it and how was Roy Z's involvement with the production of it? "I'm really happy to finally do a legitimate album with Roy Z who's a great friend of mine," he points out. "And he's also a great producer. Roy Z has produced the Bruce Dickinson solo albums, Chemical Wedding and Accident Of Birth. He's also produced the new Halford album, Resurrection. And the new Helloween album Dark Ride. So Roy Z is really moving up in the producer world and I was abled and glad that he had time to record this album with me. Not only record it but write and produce it as well." Rob Rock was surrounded by several musicians to realize the plans he had with the album. He tells he himself did the lead and backing vocals while Roy Z played rhythm and lead guitar, some bass and some keyboards. About other appearances on the album he explains: "We also got Reynold Butch Carlson on drums who played with me and Roy back in the Driver days. Gregory Analla who happens to be Roy Z's singer for his own band Tribe Of Gypsies, he came in and helped me on the backing vocals. And we had a couple of guest players come in. We had Ray Burke on bass. He played bass on songs like All I Need, In The Night and Never Too Late. And then a good friend of ours called Jake E Lee from Ozzy Osbourne's band, he did a few solos for me. Actually, he did two. He did the guitar solo for All I Need and also for the song Media Machine." The goal set for the album was to create a very live feel, the singer tells. Rock speaks: "A feel of power and performance, of honesty and emotion and passion. And thus it creates a whole vibe in the album that this is true metal, right from the heart, raw, yet very well produced. And the result is just a fantastic record. Rage Of Creation, to me, is my Magnum Opus up to this point. It's the greatest record I've made so far. And I hope to continue in this vein, obviously. But right now, we have Rage Of Creation!" "We had a great time recording this album," Rock finally enthusiastically comments, "and I believe it shows in the result of the album. It was a lot of fun. Roy Z has a great neck for getting out personal performances, yet without the stress and strain of the studio. I mean, he just frees you up to fly!"
Rage Of Creation contains eleven songs. Rock is willing and interested in giving some comments on each song. "The album starts out with an instrumental piece called In The Beginning. In this song -it's a new song that we've put together- it evokes the mystery of the beginning of creation. And this theme of creation and fresh, real, metal, is like the theme I had for this whole album." The Sun Will Rise Again - "It's just a powerful song," Rock says. "It's a song of hope and (has) a positive vibe. And it rocks! It's a good way to open the album. Some songs were written around a guitar riff, or the music. It was already there. Some songs were written around the melody in the vocals. Like The Sun Will Rise Again. I had the verse melody and lyrics and the chorus melody and lyrics and I just stood there with Roy and I just sang it to him. And out of thin air Roy Z comes up with this great metal riff. It was awesome! When we play it live it's really great!" One Way Out - "Now this song is a revamped version from the Driver days that Roy and I wrote. It's very high energy. It's got a cool guitar riff. It's got an awesome solo in it. We just took that song and played it with a modern feel and the result is what you have on Rage Of Creation." Judgement Day - "Lyrically this song is basically inspired by the book of Revelation in the Bible. And of course it's about the end times. And it's a new song written around a Roy Z riff. Roy Z had the riff, the beginning riff for that song. And I said 'oh, man! That's cool, let's use that! Let's develop this into a song.' And Judgement Day basically turned into a three part song. It's almost like a mini opera kinda thing. To me all three parts mesh well together. It's a very heavy song and it's very cool. It got modern tones in it. It's awesome!" So he exclaims enthusiastically. Streets Of Madness - "I think this song has one of my best vocal performances on it. It's a great song. We had the riff. I think parts of that song were from the old demos I had. But we rewrote all the lyrics. And this song kicks butts. It's great!" Eagle - "It was actually written by Abba. I was introduced to this song by a friend of mine called Chris Leibundgut who helped me put together some of the people in the band. But Chris suggested this song and said 'Rock, why don't you do this song? I can hear your voice doing it and I can hear you building it up'. And when I first heard this song, I was like 'okay, Eagle, Abba!' I mean, Abba is a great songwriting band. But, you know, Abba in my mind was nice, sweet pop music. But me and Roy discussed it and we thought that if I would perform it in the way of one of my favorite songs of all time, Heaven And Hell that Ronnie Dio sings with Black Sabbath, that I thought it would evoke a great vibe that would enhance the song and bring it to a new level. A level of metal mystery and power. And so, I went for that and the result for Eagle, to me, is one of the best songs on the album and I really enjoy it. It's a well written song and well performed. Roy Z does a great solo on it. And it just has a cool vibe to it." "On the song All I Need", Rock continues telling, "we brought in Jake E Lee to handle the solo on it. It's a bluesy song and it rocks! I mean, it's got a great hook in it and Jake E Lee just takes off on the solo area." Media Machine - "This song here is like an American metal style song. It's got some of that old, early Dio sentiment to it. It has some of that Impellitteri rhythm guitar styles in it. And it's basically a song about the media and how they invade famous people's lives. I mean, you see it everywhere, where they're trying to sell you on everybody's business. It's just a big machine but the whole point is they sell magazines and that's what the song is about." In The Night - "This song here was originally conceived back in the Driver days. It's got a classic metal style. Kind of like some Judas Priest style going on. The song is really a great mood. I really like the rhythm part of it; the chugging of the rhythms and the vibe it sends off. It's definitely a cool song. It starts off slow but then starts grinding like true metal does." Never Too Late - "This song was originally written with me and Roy back in the day. We thought it stood the test of time. It's a great single type song. It's a short American metal style ditty. And it kicks butt. I mean, it's got a lot of down picking on the rhythms and it gives a lot of energy and a lot of strength. And Butch does a great job on the drums as well." "And the epic song of the album is a song called Forever," Rob Rock finally comments. "It kind of starts off like a ballad, turns into a mid-tempo song. To me this is like a classic song. I mean, me and Roy put this song together. And I think Roy Z's solo on it especially is like what you've never heard before. This guy's drippin'! But the main part of the song, is the melody. To me it's a great song to sing. It's real fun to sing and it's a great song to listen to as well. And I think everyone will enjoy this song." |
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