Albums such as this can be difficult to review, because it is not so much a band effort as it is a concept, and with so many guest musicians the material itself gets pulled in all sorts of different directions. Liberty N ‘Justice is a Christian rock band consisting of Justin Murr who gathered some of the biggest names in rock to release a pretty cool album.
Now I’m not a fan of organized religion, nor do I like lyrics that preach. However I did not really notice much in the way of either on this disc – maybe it’s a good thing no lyrics were included with this pre-release promo. Of course with so many different musicians taking part there is going to be some bad with the good, but the later seems to outweigh the former. And you have to give credit to Justin Murr for writing some catchy melodic songs, songs that reminded me of Ken Tamplin And Friends’ 2003 release Wake The Nations.
Every listener will have their own favorites based on the vocalist singing, but I’m going to list the ones that caught my ear. Sebastian Bach’s “Another Nail” is a cool song, even if he does not sound like he did on those Skid Row classics. Former teen sensation Leif Garrett (likely the last person I would associate with religion) sounds damn good on the mid-tempo “Sight Unseen”. 80s rockers Mark Slaughter and Pete Loran stick to what they know best on “Thy Will Be Done” as does Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy on the heaviest track here, “Killer Grin”.
Phil Naro does a commendable job as well, but the best track here is sung by former Lynch Mob belter Oni Logan. “Show Me The Way” is a crunchy heavy song that is slow to get going, but has one incredible chorus.
01. Intro
02. Kings of Hollywood (Ez Gomer of Jet Circus)
03. Another Nail (Sebastian Bach of Skid Row)
04. State of Grace (Russell Arcara of Surgin/Prophet/Arcara)
05. Malice in Wonderland (Jamie Rowe of Guardian)
06. Grenade (Dale & Troy Thompson of Bride)
07. Show Me the Way (Oni Logan of Lynch Mob)
08. Sight Unseen (Leif Garrett)
09. Up That Hill (Josh Kramer of Saint)
10. Surreal (Scott Wenzel of White Cross)
11. Flinch (Tony Harnell of TNT/Starbreaker)
12. Thy Will Be Done (Mark Slaughter of Slaughter & Pete Loran of Trixter)
13. Killer Grin (Stephen Pearcy of Ratt)
14. If The World Could Be Mine (Joe Cerisano of Silver Condor/Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
15. Always Tomorrow (Ted Poley of Danger Danger)
16. Hope & Pray/Ballad of King David (Phil Naro of Talas/Peter Criss Band)
17. Make Believe (Mike Lee of Barren Cross)
18. Outro
Line-Up:
Mike Layne – guitar, bass
Jamie Rowe – guitar, vocals
Tommy Denander – guitar, keyboards
Charlie Calv – keyboards
Mark Slaughter guitar, vocals
Ez Gomer bass, vocals
guitar:
Troy Thompson, Scott Heberer, Tobor Torontali, Dave Tsien, Sayit, Mike Maino, Stephen Deacutis
Drive, Aurelien Barbolosi
Mark Slaughter guitar, vocals
bass:
Justin Murr, Tim Gaines, Steve Curtsinger, Mark Arbour, Ed Avila, John Jd Deservio, Micha
Tim Bushong bass, drums
drums:
Mikkey Dee, Michael Loy, Roger Banks, John Hummel, Shawn Szoke, Michael Ulvsgaard, Shannon Woulfe, Bryan West, Dave Anthony, Gary Horrie
vocals:
Sebastian Bach, Russell Arcara, Dale Thompson, Troy Thompson,
Oni Logan, Leif Garrett, Josh Kramer, Scott Wenzel, Tony Harnel, Pete Loran, Stephen Pearcy, Joe Cerisano, Ted Poley, Phil Naro, Mike Lee
Password: Plotn08
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