Review Summary: Jake E. Lee is back!
Red Dragon Cartel is the latest project by guitarist
Jake E. Lee, which he formed in 2013. Until that moment, Jake had been practically missing from the public eye for the better part of the 1990s – following the dissolution of
Badlands – and throughout the 2000s. During that time, he managed to release three solo albums of varying success, which passed by most music enthusiasts unnoticed. The rest of the time, he kept a low profile for various reasons, until he finally decided to return to the rock arena, which has changed dramatically over the intervening years. Without much delay, Red Dragon Cartel released their debut in early 2014. Will it serve as a ticket back into the top echelon for this underrated axe-slinger?
Those familiar with previous albums featuring Jake on guitar will immediately notice a heavier sound chosen for RDC. It is no longer pop metal of the
Ozzy Osbourne days or the blues rock of Badlands; it actually elicits comparisons to some of the tracks from his instrumental record,
A Fine Pink Mist. The new album primarily features modern, studio-polished metal with touches of industrial and an occasional contagious, practically dancelike groove.
Befitting the selected musical direction is the vocalist. The relatively unknown D.J. Smith has a deep voice that nicely fits the heavier sound, but it relies more on volume and aggression than a wide range. However, to be honest, it also has a certain grating quality that requires some getting used to. Because of this, his performance on the album can be considered only moderately successful (such as on the first two tracks,
Deceived and
Shout It Out) rather than remarkable, and on some cuts he acts as the weakest link, occasionally dragging down the solid instrumental execution.
Perhaps because of the abovementioned issues, or perhaps to attract additional attention to their debut, Jake invited guest vocalists. But once again, the results are uneven. The most effective performance comes from Robin Zander of
Cheap Trick on the song
Feeder (the second-best cut on the record after
Deceived) and Sass Jordan on
Remind Me. As for the other two – Paul Di’Anno and Maria Brink – they can be rated as “poor” and “average,” respectively. In fact, the Di’Anno track,
Wasted, is the weakest one on the LP, with most of the blame unfortunately going to the singer for his bizarre, bleating delivery. The lady fares slightly better, but
Big Mouth cannot be considered one of the stronger tracks.
Focusing back on the person driving this review, it should be stated that, despite the heavier sound, it is great to hear Jake E. Lee recall his roots and dish out solid licks and riffs, as on the aforementioned
Deceived (its main riff somewhat resembles
Bark at the Moon, though that might be intentional). However, it must be acknowledged that not one of his songs here reaches the heights of his 1980s and 90s output, though they still make for solid, well-crafted heavy metal, even if it is not outstanding. Nevertheless, fans of the six-string samurai have every right to rejoice, since Jake is back on track.
The result is as follows: the Red Dragon Cartel debut feels more like a stepping stone than a definitive artistic statement. It seems that on their first LP the band was still searching for a trajectory to follow, which likely resulted in the record’s unevenness. In any case, it is nice to see Jake E. Lee back, and we wish him an even sturdier second album.
