{"id":23121,"date":"2014-12-01T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=23121"},"modified":"2015-01-15T00:48:45","modified_gmt":"2015-01-15T00:48:45","slug":"album-review-donnie-vie-the-white-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-donnie-vie-the-white-album\/","title":{"rendered":"DONNIE VIE – The White Album (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DONNIE VIE
The White Album<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLivewire \/ Cargo (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 9.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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If someone were to hold a gun to my head and force me to name the world\u2019s most underrated band and songwriter then, I would immediately opt for Illinois-based Enuff Z\u2019Nuff and their former frontman Donnie Vie. <\/p>\n

Mr. Vie formed one half of what is without doubt one of the greatest, yet criminally ignored songwriting partnerships of all time. With Chip Z\u2019Nuff he was responsible for dragging what started out as a \u201cglam metal\u201d band into what would become the \u201cheavy metal Beatles\u201d.<\/p>\n

With such stunning albums as Tweaked<\/em> (1995) and Seven<\/em> (1997), Enuff Z\u2019Nuff should\u2019ve been filling stadiums worldwide, but as is the case with so many ultra-talented artists it just wasn\u2019t to be. Undeterred Donnie Vie ploughed on, releasing an incredible debut solo album entitled Just Enough<\/em> (2003) and eventually severing all ties with Chip and company in 2013. <\/p>\n

And so, now we have The White Album<\/em>; another joyous celebration which follows on from 2012\u2019s brilliant Wrapped Around My Middle Finger<\/em><\/a>, and which furthers my belief that this man is a musical genius. How Donnie Vie hasn\u2019t been showered with accolades I\u2019ll never know, but it says an awful lot about the music business when such a mercurial talent can only release albums to a smattering of applause.<\/p>\n

The White Album<\/em> comes as a double package boasting 19 tracks, including two stupendous cover versions of John Lennon\u2019s legendary \u2018Imagine\u2019 and Chicago\u2019s \u201925 Or 6 To 4\u2019. But first we must tuck into the original material, and there are 17 sugar sweet sugar lumps to get through.<\/p>\n

\u2018I Wanna Do It To You\u2019 opens up the record; it\u2019s a nifty funked up strut built upon Vie\u2019s recognisable drool whic cavorts playfully with that simple yet energetic prod of percussion and guitar. Donnie Vie has made a living out of reinventing the wheel; flecking bubble-gum rock with a kaleidoscopic marrying of soul, funk, The Beatles-esque joy and power-pop glam. However, with \u2018I Wanna Do It\u2019 there\u2019s a triumphant mix of Bootsy Collins cosmic groove, which in turn brings to mind Prince at his most deft… you\u2019ll be tapping away to this even when you sleep.<\/p>\n

The sheer class of Donnie Vie is expressed through that expected versatility as expressed with \u2018Handy Dandy\u2019, which is a kind of classic rock \u2018n\u2019 roll jaunt with a 50s edge; the sort of cut rocker John Lennon would have been proud of. It\u2019s a tune which contrasts something like \u2018Haunted\u2019, which comes striding into the room in true melancholic fashion as Vie fuses elegance with sullen reflection. Vic Alfaro\u2019s drum is a steady, stark plod that runs like a grey streak through a contrasting swirl of rainbow colours, which are in turn sprigged with Vie\u2019s lazy croon.<\/p>\n

One always feels that Donnie Vie could write an album in under an hour, such is his creative majesty. He evokes the soul of Elvis Costello combined with the fragile existence of John Lennon as \u2018Unforsaken\u2019 aches with its sweeping melody, which is aced by Vie\u2019s brittle vocal sway. Elsewhere, we have the gentle breeze of \u2018For Your Pleasure\u2019, and while Vie is quick to express his disappointment that the \u201csun don\u2019t shine anymore\u201d<\/em>, he takes us on a musical trip into a world where the elements do not matter, and the mere trickle of a note is just enough. That is the beauty of Vie as a songwriter; he never alienates the listener, but instead makes you feel like you\u2019re there with him on some fluffy pink cloud.<\/p>\n

With \u2018Happy Days\u2019, \u2018Crash And Burn\u2019, \u2018Light Shine On\u2019 and \u2018Better Love Next Time\u2019 we again get that colourful mix of Beatles-esque coolness and simple, upbeat harmony \u2013 especially with the latter, which is so uplifting as a simple, poppy shuffle that one can only gasp in disbelief.<\/p>\n

Throughout The White Album<\/em> there may be times when you feel you\u2019ve heard a certain melody or pop-fuelled passage before, and that\u2019s simply because Vie is so unashamedly influenced by the aforementioned Beatles, as well as Cheap Trick. As in the shadow of every candy floss bop though, there\u2019s a sentimental ballad such as \u2018My Love\u2019 and \u2018Almost Home\u2019, which sounds as if it\u2019s been plucked right off that other \u201cwhite album\u201d (The Beatles) released in 1968.<\/p>\n

In a sense, Vie hints at what The Beatles might have sounded like if they\u2019d survived well into the 1980s. After all, the eloquent \u2018You\u2019re My Favourite Thing To Do\u2019 is, for me anyway, typically Paul McCartney in its simple nodding backbeat. But one thing we often forget as regards to Vie\u2019s solo stuff is his ability to crank it up every now and then, and so the likes of \u2018Big Brother\u2019 are a welcome addition to a record that for the most part can be described as \u201cfloaty\u201d and stirring. \u2018Big Brother\u2019 offers up extra venom in the vocal tone and extra metallic fizz with the guitar, while \u2018Freaky Deaky\u2019 is equally bombastic with its fuzzy chug ad yet still quirky lead. <\/p>\n

As for those covers. Well, Chicago\u2019s \u201925 Or 6 To 4\u2019 is up first and I\u2019m surprised that it\u2019s a live track, because in a sense it makes it an outcast here. I\u2019d have loved to have heard Donnie Vie\u2019s studio take, but even so it is the sort of track which showcases that rarely spoken of \u201cpower\u201d in Vie\u2019s voice and as expected it\u2019s still a fine version rich in horns. The most anticipated inclusion, however, had to be \u2018Imagine\u2019. Now, I\u2019ve heard Donnie Vie cover numerous Beatles tracks in the past \u2013 \u2018Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds\u2019, \u2018Run For Your Life\u2019 etc. \u2013 and I also kneeled and worshipped at the altar of his cover of John Lennon\u2019s \u2018Jealous Guy\u2019, and so with \u2018Imagine\u2019 it felt almost as if he was covering the holy grail of songs… and he does a wonderful job. Instead of sprucing it up, there\u2019s an almost demo-like feel as that stark percussion plods in tandem with that acoustic strum and all the while Vie\u2019s sleepy voice does justice to Lennon\u2019s without simply aping it. <\/p>\n

The other two tracks I must speak of are \u2018Angel Eyes\u2019 and \u2018Without You\u2019; both are listed as outtakes and yet both are wistful melodies that spirit you away to a place where warm summer breezes motion beneath clear blue skies. Again the songs boast that classic Vie formula of being a tad under-produced, which in turn gives the sound a somewhat understated feel. I\u2019m sure that if in the wrong hands such songs could have been tampered with and bestowed a horn section here and a choir elsewhere, but Vie\u2019s songs work in whichever form they take, and the breezy groove of \u2018Without You\u2019 pretty much sums up Vie down to a T. This time we get an almost Burt Bacharach-vibe initially before Vie resorts to that lazy drool over a simple nodding percussion. But this is definitely the album\u2019s most swinging track and it\u2019s the sort of song that deserves to be heard in some cavernous arena. In fact, with \u2018Without You\u2019 and \u2018Victory\u2019 (the latter a song that sadly didn\u2019t make the final cut for this album due to technical issues) it suggests that Vie could effortlessly branch out into more bombastic climes.<\/p>\n

One can never get enough of Donnie Vie\u2019s songwriting prowess, and with The White Album<\/em> we\u2019ve really been spoiled. Indeed, with such a sm\u00f6rg\u00e5sbord of fizzy pop, sizzling bubblegum bops and sentimental balladry, I believe it\u2019s time to overdose again on what in my opinion is one of the finest releases this century.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DONNIE VIEThe White Album Livewire \/ Cargo (2014)Rating: 9.5\/10 If someone were to hold a gun to my head and force me to name the world\u2019s most underrated band and songwriter then, I would immediately opt for Illinois-based Enuff Z\u2019Nuff and their former frontman Donnie Vie. Mr. Vie formed one half of what is without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1593],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donnie-vie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23121"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23200,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121\/revisions\/23200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}