Few days ago we featured in exclusive RUFFYUNZ III, the new 2023 third album from the partnership between bassist Randy Pratt (Cactus / The Lizards), Emmy winning engineer/guitarist JZ Barrell, studio / session guitarist Jesse Berlin, and powerhouse singer Ed Terry (Slash, Keith Richards, David Lee Roth band) – plus a collection of drum, guitar and keyboard masters.
Many of you asked for RUFFYUNZ previous volumes – not easy to find – so we have here RUFFYUNZ II, more classic, killer traditional hard rock to enjoy.
This time featuring legendary Bobby Rondinelli who dominates the drums (Black Sabbath, Rainbow, BOC), Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy and Deep Purple for decades) on smoking Hammond B-3, Dave Maniketti (Y&T) on badass guitar, Tracy G. (Dio & WW III) on brutal guitar, Joel Hoekstra from Whitesnake dropping six-string melodies, and the great Pat Thrall (Pat Travers, Glenn Hughes, Meatloaf) also on guitar.
Tracks such as the opener “Hype In My Head” or “Back It On Up” are really cool due to their funky hard rock impact, while the first-mentioned song also benefits from Pat Thrall’s strong guitar work. All songs are all tightly arranged and despite all the power they have, they still have plenty of room to breathe.
Pat Thrall is used a second time on “Slither Man” and with his fine licks provides the highlights. Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey refines the tracks “Back It On Up” and “Keep It Coming” with his fat Hammond organ sound, which then forms the basis for Jesse Berlin’s powerful guitar tracks and the polyphonic vocals in the chorus.
Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, ex- Night Ranger) really gets going on “Can’t Slow Down”, a number that already stands out simply because of its great arrangement and Ed Terry’s strong vocals can score big. The guitar literally jumps out of the speakers during the solos.
Which brings me straight to Dave Meniketti, Y&T frontman. Meniketti leaves his mark on “Back It On Up” and makes an excellent team with Airey.
The band can work their slinky magic and push “Undercover Agent For The Blues” to the fore for all to jive along towards the sweet, soulful wigout of “Doesn’t Matter” and the heavy menace behind “Candyman” and “Dark Side”: the dynamic-scoping cuts highlighting the group’s power.
Then the acoustically tinctured and effects-laden balladry of “The Game” brings on hypnotic glamour to the table and the platter’s drift to a spiritual close.
The retro hard rock that is ‘Ruffyunz II’ works like a punch reflecting the seasoned input of its contributors and is well worth a listen over and over: cool, groovy, timeless.
Highly Recommended
01 – Hype In My Head
02 – Back It On Up
03 – Undercover Agent For The Blues
04 – Doesn’t Matter
05 – Candyman
06 – Dark Side
07 – Slither Man
08 – Bubbles
09 – Can’t Slow Down
10 – Keep It Coming
11 – The Game
Ed Terry – vocals
Randy Pratt – bass
JZ Barrell – guitar
Jesse Berlin – guitar
Bobby Rondinelli – drums
Don Airey – keyboards
Dave Maniketti – guitar
Tracy G. – guitar
Joel Hoekstra – guitar
Pat Thrall – guitar
Pat Klein (The Lizards) – backing vocals
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