ALBUM REVIEW: Radiance – The Dead Daisies
Supergroups have it made, right? A collective of esteemed musicians jamming together purely for the love of their craft. Storied careers with celebrated bands bolster their talents. What if we were to remind people these points also bring a modicum of pressure when supergroups want to make their own material rather than rest on the laurels of these illustrious pasts? Since its formation in 2013, THE DEAD DAISIES have become one such group. With a rotating door policy, we’ve seen many people come and go, leaving the front spot open for DEEP PURPLE’s Glenn Hughes’ second album at the helm as THE DEAD DAISIES move into their Radiance era. Having joined in 2019 after the departure of John Corabi, Hughes steps up to the plate to follow the critically acclaimed Holy Ground (2021). Though with such little time between albums, is Radiance being given a fair chance to shine of its own merit? To be coy, the answer is an interesting one.
With names such as WHITESNAKE, DIO and RED PHOENIX attached to them, THE DEAD DAISIES find themselves in danger of falling short of certain expectations. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for that to happen. Face Your Fear starts proceedings in a typical manner. Low tones in riffs from Doug Aldrich and David Lowy are polished and just as we’d expect. The issue comes with Hughes’ vocals. There is no denying he has one of the best voices of the genre, but the stuffy delivery leading to certain words not forming as they should leaves things off. Packed with vocal hooks, the chorus again feels lacklustre. Sure, the riffs make for a nice underlying groove but nothing stands out for us.
What can be said for THE DEAD DAISIES is they know how to write a catchy chorus. Regardless of whether we’re underwhelmed or not, we still catch ourselves mouthing the words to Hypnotize Yourself and Shine On. A mindless activity but we’re here to dive a little deeper into these creations. The former comes with another solid introduction which thick riffs and full tones. We can’t help but feel disappointed when it falls into a somewhat slower song. Shine On follows the routine. The duo of Aldrich and Lowy create a dark intro with a bouncing riff and a slick overlaying melody. The resulting swell leading to… drawn out verses. Anticlimactic but our perseverance treats us to beautiful guitar licks as we’re encouraged to “watch the crimson sky”. A nice scream from Hughes after the second chorus fades into the instrumental, bringing the band close to LED ZEPPELIN territory.
It’s moments like that which reward us for carrying on through Radiance; the sharpness of the title track’s opening guitars; the band’s efficiency in world-building through separate tracks. Yet this reward seems to be slowly taken away. It’s again due to pacing issues. Faster tracks soon become slower and drawn out. As the album trundles along, each song follows the same tried and tested structure. When it takes away from the lyrical prowess in lines such as “I see the majesty deep in the tapestry”, our endurance and indeed our patience is tested.
All is not lost however as Kiss The Sun’s use of a talkbox in the intro is sublime. Hughes’ bass radiates through the punchy instrumental. In ways, it reminds us of HARDCORE SUPERSTAR’s Touch The Sky. Lower tones from Hughes’ vocals are a wonderful change of scenery though it doesn’t take long for the esteemed musician to float back to the comfort zone. The guitar tones are gorgeous throughout, but this album is becoming a catalogue which can be put on in the background of a gathering and no one would pass comment.
There are only so many ways we can frame the feeling of being underwhelmed, even more-so when we’ve previously enjoyed THE DEAD DAISIES’ work. As much as we’d love to enjoy the hooky chorus and Courageous’ well thought out guitar solo, nothing is grabbing our attention. Slivers of brass house themselves within Cascade’s undercurrent, but they go as subtly as they came. Flourishes of guitar licks within Cascade’s second verse are wonderful to take in. We can’t deny these are incredible musicians. However, there’s a distinct feeling of mediocrity which is undeserved. The finishing tandem of Not Human and Roll On grind proceedings to a halt. The former being a slow track though not a ballad, while the latter is a ballad which leaves us pondering its place on the tracklist. A dwindling flame snuffed out it seems.
Would we have this feeling of despondency were Radiance given more time to develop? We can’t answer that for certain, but our instinct says no. Where Holy Ground shone due to an extended process, Radiance limps out the fate and never recovers itself. Is the flame of THE DEAD DAISIES close to dying? We hope not as we’d previously been fans of the collective. Radiance however does it no favours.
Rating: 5/10
Radiance is out now via SPV.
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