Express & Star

Grand Slam, Grand Slam - album review

Formed in 1984, it's taken Grand Slam until 2019 to finally deliver a studio album.

Published
The cover for Grand Slam's album

In that time there's been live albums and compilations. But the original line-up, formed after the break-up of Thin Lizzy by the late, West Bromwich-born Phil Lynott, never got to throw anything down on to vinyl, cassette or disc except for a collection of 1984 recordings called Studio Sessions which appeared in 2002.

Lynott's untimely death in 1986 of course played a huge part in that, as did splitting just eight months after their first live show, and bandmate Laurence Archer went on to make his name with UFO.

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But Archer has reformed the Grand Slam name, and it is wonderful that he has included both new material and songs co-writen with Lynott - five of each - so his talent lives on through some newly released material.

The current line-up - Archer with Mike Dyer, Dave Boyce and Benjy Reid - got back together in 2016, and so this has been boiling away since then. Original member Mark Stanway also provided keyboards for five of the tracks without being credited in the official line-up.

What we've got is a rip-roaring rock romp that is both fresh and nostalgic. You are left thinking of those heady Thin Lizzy-esque riffs that of course would have come from working with Lynott, and there's some beautifully modern touches.

Four-piece Grand Slam

One such is Long Road, a kind of Metallica-lite ballad softly crafted with touching guitar work and harmonised vocals to show off another side to the songwriting. It is also dedicated to Archer's friend Michael Fassberg of Bonafide who passed away and is therefore extra poignant.

There's also the electrifying guitars on closing track Grand Slam, an instrumental slash fest to get air guitar players everywhere banging. It's mesmerising the talent that has gone into this and far from being self-indulgent is a wonderful reminder of the power of instruments and what they can do without vocals.

Of the older Lynott-era material, the modern rethinking of Military Man is acidic in its sound with those tantalising guitars and thunderous chorus that will be an exceptional listen live.

And although it was also written in that era, Crime Rate is still as relevant today with everything that's going on, and those lazy versus building into a wall of sound chorus sound terrific.

Rating: 8/10