LIBERTY N' JUSTICE - review added 18th November 2009
Album Review: Light It Up (2009)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and slightly Christian rock from a very Christian band
According to the band's website, the Liberty N' Justice project started in the early 1990's and has gone through two separate lives. The first was as a 'proper band' for the decade leading up until 2001. They released 4 albums including Armed With The Cross and Bargain Bin. That iteration was founded by Justin Murr and Patrick Marchand.
The second coming, this time led solely Justin Murr, released it's first album - Welcome To The Revolution - in 2004. Now, rather than a band, Liberty N' Justice was a vehicle for Justin and featured numerous guest stars and writers. That first album's roster included names like Michael Sweet (Stryper), Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Rick Florian (White Heart) and more.
Two more albums - Soundtrack Of A Soul and Independence Day - followed over the next couple of years, again featuring numerous big names like Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Tony Harnell (TNT), Oni Logan (Lynch Mob), Jack Russell (Great White), and...well, the list goes on.
2009's Light It Up plots a similar course. The names are there again, this time including Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister), Ted Poley (Danger Danger), Phil Collen (Def Leppard), Harry Hess and Pete Lesperance(Harem Scarem), and even American wrestler Chris Jericho (also in Fozzy). The line-up really is bloomin' impressive!
The sound varies in a big way as you can imagine with the number of people involved. Even the songwriting team varies from song to song, although Justin Murr cuts in on most of them. Some of the tracks are darned heavy, and there's a definite theme of rock throughout - be it modern, melodic, hard, classic or overtly Christian. Yes, Justin is a very religious man - one look at the Liberty N' Justice website will tell you that - but Godly musings don't take over the release...and the occasional references will only bother you if you let them. Even staunch atheists shouldn't have any problem with the material on Light It Up.
The title track, featuring Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns and guitarist JK Northrup, kicks things off. It's got a real ring of the Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy For The Devil' at the start, but soon turns into a semi-sleazy heavy rock 'n' roll number. It's a decent track. Unexceptional but perfectly likeable. The grungy 'The Other Thief' follows. It's a gnarled madman of a track featuring Dale and Troy Thompson of Bride on fine form. Again it's good rather than brilliant. You can't help but tap along though.
'Blink' (with Lynn Louise Lowrey of Vixen and Eddie Ojeda) is a fine hard rocker that's a little flat in places but still enjoyable. The slower ballad 'Do What You Believe' features Firehouse stalwarts C.J. Snare and Bill Leverty. Its a step above the first three entries and, well, not a massive way behind the best music Firehouse pumped out at the start of the 1990's. Ted Poley and Vic Rivera (Crunch) join forces for the excellent, upbeat (if ominously worded) 'Man vs. Mother Nature'. It's a contagious track, although I'd have to disagree with the lyrics and suggest the winner would actually be Mother Nature...
'Treading On Serpents' is as cheesy as a mozzarella overcoat. Les Carlsen (Bloodgood) and Oz Fox (Bloodgood/Stryper) make a fun party-atmosphere sound, but it is an over-the-top flavoured take on good music. 'Uncle Sam' is a potent track with the sort of drum beat you could use to strip bark from oak trees. The song sees Sheldon Tarsh (Adler's Appetite) and Jeff Pilson (Dokken) putting in one of the finest performances on the album. It's a sound I would love to hear more of - maybe even an entire album's worth.
'Every Reason To Believe' with Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge) and Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper) is a pleasing-to-the-ear softer track that fits well after the boisterous fire of the previous entry. 'Wrestling With God' belts along at a fair old lick and puts contributors Pete Loran and Steve Brown of Trixter, plus Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal of Guns N' Roses in a very good light. The chorus is especially memorable.
'Best Time You Never Had' sees the unlikely pairing of wrestler Chris Jericho and Def Leppard guitar legend Phil Collen. It's a pounding, heavy song with some superb soloing. Even the singing is better than you'd ever think possible for someone who's wrists are bigger than my thighs. 'Beautiful Decision' with Harem Scarem pair Harry Hess and Pete Lesperance sounds just like the music the guys should have made on their last album. Miss the guys? Check this out!
'Drunk Dead Gorgeous' takes a while to get going and but is worth the effort. Marq Torian (BulletBoys) has an unusual voice that lives on the ragged edge. It suits the song, especially with Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. doing loud things on guitar. Robert Mason and Jerry Dixon of Warrant work hard on 'Greed', but it's not a particularly great song in this exulted company. Final track 'For Better Or Worse' with Shawn Pelata and Stephen Chesney of Waking Jonah is a very nice if wet finish to the album.
This album really belongs in the 'Various Artists' category. There are so many people here it's difficult to know where to start - and that's without including guys like Eric Ragno and Terry Ilous who aren't in the main credits. In the end, the quality shines through in a big way. Yes, it suffers here and there from 'flow issues', but definitely not enough to stop it being an essential purchase for lovers of hard rock.
Check out... Save a few lesser moments, just about all of it!
CD Track List:
1. Light It Up
2. The Other Thief
3. Blink
4. Do What You Believe
5. Man vs. Mother Nature
6. Treading On Serpents
7. Uncle Sam
8. Every Reason To Believe
9. Wrestling With God
10. Best Time You Never Had
11. Beautiful Decision
12. Drunk Dead Gorgeous
13. Greed
14. For Better Or Worse
Label: Retroactive Records
Artist's website(s): Liberty N' Justice , MySpace
