{"id":28105,"date":"2015-02-01T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=28105"},"modified":"2017-05-09T21:59:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T21:59:49","slug":"album-review-mark-slaughter-reflections-in-a-rear-view-mirror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-mark-slaughter-reflections-in-a-rear-view-mirror\/","title":{"rendered":"MARK SLAUGHTER – Reflections In A Rear View Mirror (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARK SLAUGHTER
Reflections In A Rear View Mirror<\/strong><\/span>
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\nEscape Music (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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With his band Slaughter, Mark sold more than five million albums worldwide back in the early 90s, including the debut Stick It To Ya<\/em> (1990) and my personal favourite Fear No Evil<\/em> (1995), and now with this debut solo platter the ex-Vinnie Vincent Invasion frontman has excelled himself as an artist.<\/p>\n

Having recently seen Michael Sweet (Stryper) team up with George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) to record the impressive Only To Rise album and former Love\/Hate singer Jizzy Pearl become a sterling solo artist, it\u2019s evident that as time passes some of these old school rockers have more to offer now than ever before.<\/p>\n

With Reflections In A Rear View Mirror<\/em> we find a man energised by the success of the single \u2018Never Givin\u2019 Up\u2019, which pays homage to all those who have served in the military. But for me, it\u2019s also a nod to those who may have been sceptical as to Mark Slaughter\u2019s solo career, let alone that of his own band. It\u2019s a steady no frills rocker and if anything, Mark\u2019s tone reminds me of Jizzy Pearl\u2019s dry rasp \u2013 full of emotion, often raw and yet comfortable to worm its way through any style.<\/p>\n

The chorus of \u2018Never Givin\u2019 Up\u2019 is infectious and features a sizzling, driving guitar provided by Mark, while Mark Goodin\u2019s drums hold the whole thing together as a sturdy heartbeat. In spite of the glowing reviews for the single mind, for me it\u2019s not the best track and that says something for the quality on offer here.<\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Away I Go\u2019 begins with the killer line, \u201cI am the gypsy boy from Mars, I count the good times by the stars, In the dark is where I roam, In a heart well that\u2019s my home\u201d<\/em>, and from hereon it\u2019s a sizzling rocker of a track featuring killer cool melodies and a hard, driving rhythm.<\/p>\n

The big tunes keep coming, though, Mark never reverting to filler but instead chomping at the bit and keeping us guessing from that riotous opener to the chugging menace of \u2018Miss Elainious\u2019, and then from the summery jangles of \u2018Carry Me Back Home\u2019 with its soulful vocal croons.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Real Thing\u2019 harkens back to the late 80s with its joyous, upbeat qualities and soaring vocal attributes, while \u2018Baby Wants\u2019 is a cool, reflective ballad that builds tremendously exhibiting soul and clever lyrics.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t Turn Away\u2019 features guest vocals from Gena Johnson; it\u2019s a stirring love song although for me it\u2019s the weakest track on the opus, sounding like something better suited to a Disney soundtrack. Thankfully though, all can be forgiven with the energetic pomp of \u2018Somewhere Isn\u2019t Here\u2019, which harkens back to Slaughter\u2019s Fear No Evil<\/em> with its bubblegum rock stomp and sugary sweet vocals.<\/p>\n

\u2018In Circle Flight\u2019 begins with a slick flute and piano marrying, and again builds nicely as an inspiring instrumental which in turn leads us to the final brace of tracks. The first of these is the excellent \u2018Velcro Jesus\u2019 with its rolling riffs and catchy chorus, while \u2018Deep In Her Heart\u2019 takes an unexpected twist and features a cool, smoky saxophone and Mark\u2019s equally exquisite vocals. Once again it\u2019s evidence of how Mark Slaughter can put his voice to anything and remains one of rock\u2019s most underrated frontmen.<\/p>\n

I sincerely hope that Reflections In A Rear View Mirror<\/em> gets the praise it deserves, because with so many modern artists reverting to type, it\u2019s refreshing that the likes of Mark are offering up versatility music-wise, which in turn complements the voice.<\/p>\n

This debut offering may not be an all-out metal attack, but that\u2019s not what I expected because knowing his talent I anticipated an emotional, soulful and nicely textured rock record, and that\u2019s exactly what I got… and more. With only one of the 11 tracks being not up to my liking, all I can say is that Mark Slaughter\u2019s solo opus is one to savour.<\/p>\n

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

MARK SLAUGHTERReflections In A Rear View Mirror Escape Music (2015)Rating: 8\/10 With his band Slaughter, Mark sold more than five million albums worldwide back in the early 90s, including the debut Stick It To Ya (1990) and my personal favourite Fear No Evil (1995), and now with this debut solo platter the ex-Vinnie Vincent Invasion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1996],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-mark-slaughter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28105","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=28105"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55534,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28105\/revisions\/55534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}