Artist: Suzi Quatro
Title: The Devil In Me
Genre: Rock / Blues
Release Date: 26th March 2021
Label: Steamhammer / SPV
Album Review
When SUZI QUATRO proudly announced: “‘The Devil In Me’ is the best album in my career to date!” it was time for me to check out her new album. If a woman being on stage for more than 50 years makes such an announcement, you expect something really special. For the album, Suzi once more teamed up with her son Richard Tuckey stating “Richard wanted this album to have a through line, so that you could put any track on, and it just fit... he also said he wanted this album to be as important and ground breaking as my first one. So that is how we approached this project, and that is what we accomplished.” When I saw ‘My Heart And Soul’ on the tracklist I wasn’t sure if I’d give the album the same rating as Suzi did, for an X-mas song (released in December 2020 as a single) in the middle of what I expected to be a Rock album was a surprise.
The album opens with the title song ‘The Devil In Me’ and it’s a typical SUZI QUATRO Rock song and features great guitar hooks and a harmonica. ‘Hey Queenie’ might remind you of her debut album back in 1973 and compared to her previous album it seems, that there is definitely more Rock than Blues to be expected. ‘Betty Who’ is a nice Rock song with great female backing vocals. ‘You Can‘t Dream It’ takes you back to the 80s and are a welcome distraction between all the Old-school-Rock songs. ‘My Heart And Soul’ that was released around X-mas and bears the typical Motown-flair while being overloaded with the aspects of Soul. The song feels a bit out of place compared to the previous songs and I hoped it would be the only song that lets me down on this album, that started so powerful and showed Suzi at her best.
‘Get Outta Jail’ is a straight forward and shows how good Suzi knows how to make you rock, it will be a highlight on a live setlist for sure. The energy of the previous song is picked up by ‘Do Ya Dance’ but coming to the instrumental part, the song as a stronger groove with a dominant beat-base line. Something that most of us might have experienced during the past months is ‘Isolation Blues’ that has an nearly intimate mood and setting and you might be reminded of a typical pub music atmosphere. ‘I Sold My Soul Today’ is a smooth classic Rock song you might listen to while enjoying an epic sunset somewhere in sunny California. ‘Love‘s Gone Bad’ is one of the highlights of the album. Wonderful saxophone elements and subtle percussion give it a slight Jazz touch and Suzi's vocals make it a wonderful ballad, you might hear on the radio late at night.
With a dominant piano ‘In The Dark’ is one of the tracks, that might surprise listeners who know Suzi mainly as a Rock singer, though the saxophone elements can be seen nearly as a provocation to the elegant piano, while Suzi on vocals effortlessly masters to find a balance between these contrasts. ‘Motor City Riders’ finishes the album in perfect SUZI QUATRO style. It’s the perfect choice. A song that will be on the party playlist of the classic Rockers and it proves that SUZI QUATRO is still the queen of Rock’n’Roll. While her last album ‘No Control’ had a heavy focus on Blues elements, ‘The Devil In Me’ shows more of SUZI QUATRO’s musical range and abilities and her timeless style above all.
Tracklist
01. The Devil In Me
02. Hey Queenie
03. Betty Who?
04. You Can‘t Dream It
05. My Heart And Soul (long version)
06. Get Outta Jail
07. Do Ya Dance
08. Isolation Blues
09. I Sold My Soul Today
10. Love‘s Gone Bad
11. In The Dark
12. Motor City Riders
Website
http://www.suziquatro.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
Comments powered by CComment