Voodoo Highway – Broken Uncle’s Inn

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Named after the second album by late ’80s/early ’90s rock outfit Badlands, and not to be confused with the American acoustic/rock duo of the same name, Italy’s Voodoo Highway’s debut album find them wanting very much to folow in the footsteps of the likes of Deep Purple, Rainbow and similar ’70s rock bands. But you don’t always get what you want, and instead they sound like they’re trying to make radio rock songs with borrowed Mötley Cr&uumle riffs and some extra layers of organ just in case the authenticity is ever in doubt. Sadly it almost always is throughout the duration of Broken Uncle’s Inn, apart from some occasional neat instrumental breaks (see otherwise jolly bounce-a-long Running Around), and no amount of organ can save some of the poppy stuff here. Vocalist Federico Di Marco’s ill-advised NWOBHM wails which turn up from time to time don’t help either. There are barely any saving graces. The title track might be considered one, with a couple of more interesting riffs, a Zeppliny bridge laced with harmonica, and liberal use of some real Purple-esque organ instead of the pushy flurries found elsewhere, and harder groover Gasoline Woman sounds like Perfect Strangers-era Purple, but other highlights are hard to find. In actual fact, one of the better tracks is piano ballad Heaven With No Stars, which may show up a few limitations in Di Marco’s voice, but lets keyboardist Alessandro Duo further prove what a compentant player he is, and the song as a whole feels a lot less forced than some of the trying-too-hard rockers here. And of the abundance of cheerful rockers, closer In Fact It’s Worse is by far the best, putting all four of the album’s best tracks at the very end. An imbalanced album indeed.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Voodoo Highway