When Whitesnake was put on indefinite hiatus in 1993 following David Coverdale’s dalliance with Jimmy Page, former members of Whitesnake hooked up with House Of Lords vocalist James Christian (soon to be replaced by Little Caesar’s Ron Young) to form Manic Eden. Peddling a rather nice line in blues-based hard rock, they released their self-titled debut album the following year but folded shortly thereafter. Because of the prevailing grunge scene, Manic Eden was criminally overlooked when it hit the streets, yet time has been very kind and it gets a long-overdue reissue (including first time ever on vinyl) via Mascot Label Group.
The 1990s were a barren time for rock and metal aficionados. Both genres were seen as something totally uncool and were expunged from the mainstream media, and the death blow happened when many established bands changed their sound to fit in with the prevailing alt-rock zeitgeist. However, some musicians kept the rock flame flickering by sticking to their roots and that was certainly the case with Manic Eden. While much music that emanated from 1990s sounds very much rooted in that era, Manic Eden has a timeless quality and that’s precisely because the band aren’t pandering to fads and trends; this album is the sound of musicians playing the music they love, and having a blast while doing it.
Arriving with a cool swagger, opening track ‘Can You Feel It’ is the kind of song you’d expect to hear blasting out of any biker bar on a Saturday night, and it’s as exciting as you’d expect. This is blues rock, only with the emphasis on the harder end, and that ensures that cuts such as ‘Gimme A Shot’ pack the requisite punch. At once lithe and limber, there’s a looseness to this album that recalls The Jimi Hendrix Experience at their most expressive which means that when Manic Eden get a bit funky on ‘Fire In My Soul’ it doesn’t sound out of place at all.
Musicians are a strange breed; putting stellar artists together is no guarantee of success as their chemicals can react in volatile ways, but as the core of Manic Eden had served time together in Whitesnake, their chemistry here is almost guaranteed. Tommy Aldridge, Rudy Sarzo and Adrian Vandenberg require no introduction and they play with a tight-but-loose feel that suggests Whitesnake’s drift into Led Zeppelin wasn’t solely at the behest of David Coverdale. However, the real star is undoubtedly vocalist Ron Young whose Marlboro-croak lends itself equally well to both emotive, bluesy cuts like ‘Dark Shade Of Grey’ and explosive rockers such as closer ‘Can’t Hold It’.
With the rise of the so-called “New Wave Of Classic Rock”, Manic Eden sound more relevant than ever before, and if you want to know where the likes of Dirty Honey learned their chops, you need look no further.
- Manic Eden is released via Mascot Label Group on 12th April 2024.
Track List:
- Can You Feel It
- Gimme A Shot
- Fire In My Soul
- Do Angels Die
- Pushing Me
- Dark Side Of Grey
- Keep It Coming
- When The Hammer Comes Down
- Ride The Storm
- Can’t Hold It
