Album Review- Myles Kennedy debut Solo Album “Year Of The Tiger” Out Now!
This album is all about vocals, and the instrumentation, as well as the voice, its dominant throughout the album, it is as raw of an album and lyrics as you can get.
Myles Kennedy, Rock Vocalist/Songwriter and seasoned Guitarist, the birth of his upcoming debut solo album, Year of the Tiger – set for release on March 9, 2018 via Napalm Records – Saw him going to places he thought he would never go, Year of the Tiger is a very intimate record on which Kennedy gives voice to his feeling of losing his father at the age of four, while each track takes you on a trip through the good, the bad, and everything in between.
It’s basically a concept record. It basically documents a period in my family’s life when my biological father passed away and essentially what happened after that; how my mother, brother, and I had to start over. We ended up leaving where we lived just outside of Boston and started a new life; that is what Year of the Tiger is all about.”- Myles Kennedy
Myles Kennedy is known for the strong belting to the sky vocals, that resonates through his album with Alter Bridge and Slash w/ Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators. It is a voice once you hear it, it is embedded in your brain and soul. And now with ” Year Of The Tiger”, you will get to know not just the voice, but the man behind the voice of Myles Kennedy, along with his deepest and most personal endeavors into is life through his music, and veteran Producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, whose prior work includes several Alter Bridge albums, helped Kennedy bring to life the song and the vision that he wanted to conceive with his debut album.
Year of the Tiger is centered around a time in Kennedy’s life which until now was understandably too difficult for the songwriter to convey through his music. But with the help of his friend and musicians, joined by Bassist Tim Tournier and Drummer Zia Uddin, on Year of the Tiger, Kennedy has birthed a pure acoustic sound filled amply by authentic arrangements touching on elements of Blues, R&B, Country, and Folk Rock and they have made an album that they can really be proud of.
The title track “Year Of The Tiger” – Which was differently influenced by the acoustic feel of Led Zeppelin 2- “The Great Beyond” is perhaps the most ambitious song, the grandest in scope, on the album- I can really see this as a movie soundtrack or being played by a huge orchestra at some point, it would fill a grand theatre no problem. The album is filled with the sounds that you wouldn’t expect from a rocker like Myles: ‘Devil On The Wall’ has a jaunty, country beat, and even brings Myles to sound a little southern as he sings it as well, which tends to fit well with the song.
“Songs like ‘Blind Faith’ or ‘Nothing But a Name’ are almost like open letters to my father, expressing an anger that’s never subsided,” he says. “They describe how much his death is still haunting me. Getting to that darker side, I didn’t know how different it was going to be for me, and how intense those emotions still were. What I found hiding in the deep, dark corners of my psyche was that this was still very real—so it was really cathartic to work through it.” –Myles Kennedy
Myles was determined to explore a new range and approach. he kept things in a lower register, not relying on the vocal histrionics that he falls back on in a rock context. On this sonic canvas, he kept it true, and what was important was how the lyric was conveyed. The album is it’s a battle cry of resolution from his mother perspective and to persevere under tough circumstances.
This album may not be what you expect, but you can’t just listen to the songs, you have to hear them, feel them and try to understand what Myles is going through as he is singing them. The album just shows how versatile Myles is as a singer-songwriter and musician. You have to bring yourself down into that deep emotion of losing a father at a young age and just letting it all out. After listening to ‘Year Of The Tiger” you are going to know Myles better than you ever thought you would.
For more info visit:
Website: www.MylesKennedy.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OfficialMylesKennedy
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MylesKennedy
Instagram: www.instagram.com/OfficialMyleskennedy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/myleskennedyofficial
Label: www.napalmrecords.com
DATE | CITY | VENUE |
March 6th | Cape Town, South Africa | Grand Arena |
March 10th | Pretoria, South Africa | Sun Arena |
March 13th | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Melkweg Max |
March 15th | Vosselaar, Belgium | Biebob |
March 17th | Birmingham, United Kingdom | O2 Institute Birmingham |
March 18th | Nottingham, United Kingdom | Nottingham Rescue Rooms |
March 20th | Glasgow, United Kingdom | The Garage, Glasgow |
March 21st | Manchester, United Kingdom | Manchester Gorilla |
March 23rd | London, United Kingdom | Islington Assembly Hall |
March 24th | Bristol, United Kingdom | Thekla, Bristol |
March 26th | London, United Kingdom | Islington Assembly Hall |
March 28th | Hamburg, Germany | Markthalle |
March 29th | Cologne, Germany | Bürgerhaus Stollwerck |
March 31st | Berlin, Germany | Kesselhaus |
April 1st | Bezirk-Landstrasse, Austria | Arena Wien |
April 3rd | Zurich, Switzerland | Dynamo |
April 4th | Milan, Italy | Magazzini Generali |
May 2nd | Spokane, WA | Bing Crosby Theater |
May 3rd | Seattle, WA | The Crocodile |
May 5th | San Francisco, CA | Slims |
May 6th | West Hollywood, CA | Troubador |
May 9th | Dallas, TX | Cambridge Room (House Of Blues) |
May 10th | Houston, TX | Bronze Peacock (House Of Blues) |
May 12th | Nashville, TN | Topgolf |
May 14th | Atlanta, GA | City Winery |
May 16th | Baltimore, MD | Baltimore Soundstage |
May 17th | Asbury Park, NJ | House of Independents |
May 19th | Lancaster, PA | Chameleon Club |
May 21st | Boston, MA | City Winery |
May 22nd | New York, NY | Highline Ballroom |
May 24th | Pontiac, MI | The Crofoot Ballroom |
May 25th | West Dundee, IL | RocHaus |
Leave a Reply