Screaming Blue Murder

by

Blue Murder

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I picked up this CD while stationed in Japan a few years back and it's one of my favorite live albums. On my list, it's right up there with Maiden's "Live After Death" and Yngwie's "Live in Lenningrad." The sound quality is great and Sykes' guitars and voice never sounded better. The band's overall sound is really tight. I think the best track on it is "Still of the Night." Sykes sings it better than Coverdale ever did and his guitar work is unbelievable--you get a 8-minute roller-coaster ride of guitar playing ranging from melodic to wicked. The middle 4 minutes of the tune consists of Sykes tastefully building up to some really great/fast fret work. The whole album showcases a truly talented band and all the tracks are great. An outstanding album!

This is the only live album from Blue Murder, the band put together by former Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake Guitarist John Sykes. The Blue Murder tracks (eg. Jelly Roll) are very good,and benefit from the live setting. However, the versions of Thin Lizzy (Dancing in the Moonlight, Cold Sweat) and Whitesnake (the immortal Still of the Night) tracks are fine when listened to by themselves, but compared to the originals they are disappointing. Sykes' chops are fantastic (he is one of rock's premier, and most underrated, guitarists), but his voice is average. He isn't a bad singer, he just lacks the character and earnest sincerity of Phil Lynott and the amazing bluesy power of David Coverdale. If this album had a few more tracks from Blue Murder albums instead of disappointing versions of songs by Sykes' former bands it would probably have got four stars. Good effort nonetheless, and still a good addition to any classic rock music collection.