Orianthi- “Some kind of feeling”

With the tag of ex Alice Cooper guitar slinger and an affair with Richie Sambora that led to a musical collaboration, Greek Australian guitarist Orianthi has some big shoes to fill. Add to this a very attractive appearance and immediately you have the comments focusing on her looks and relations, then her skills. But she has the answers although not always convincing Orianthi at her new album has decided to go on a MOR blues rock album with a lot of pop sensibilities. 

A cover of 'Sharp dressed man" (ZZ TOP) is a nice but not necessary touch. On the other hand, she seems more at ease with middle of the road blues tracks like "Ghost", "Some kind of Feeling", songs that could be easily on any Joe Cocker or Cher album. She insists on playing dirty blues rock but her attempts at "First time blues" with Joe Bonamassa are not as strong as they should. She has the chops, the ideas but she cannot decide on the album’s direction and is quite polished. On the contrary with other contemporary blues women like Erja Lyytinen, Joanne Shaw Taylor or Laura Cox, Orianthi can deliver a stunning solo but her voice and the way she composes flirt too much with the mainstream rock radio sound and reduces her blues woman credibility in favor of her success on the pop music genre. At the end the album is a bit plastic and the great guitar work cannot balance the MOR feeling that her mellow vocal levels. 

A nice album for a ride with the car but nothing more. "Dark days are gone" is a fine example of another poor rock song who lacks depth and strength but has a nice FM flavor, "Bad of each other" is another blues tune for white folks in the suburbs. Maybe Orianthi should forget the Sambora, Bon Jovi MOR , white boys’ blues tactics as in "Call you mine' and let herself in to the real low-down blues, following the great Australian tradition of bands like ROSE TTTOO, ACCDC, COMSIC PSYCHO or even the INXS formula She CAN’T have both worlds, and this album proves it. A nice album to listen to once or twice and move on.

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