Taz Taylor Band | Hard Rock Hideout

The Taz Taylor Band is back with their third release in five years, this time with a new singer. “Straight Up” features the vocals of Keith Slack from HRH favorite, Steelhouse Lane.

For those of you unfamiliar with Steelhouse Lane, Keith Slack is a very good singer with a slight rasp in his voice. His voice is well suited for this style of rock. He has a very cool sound that oscillates between Kelly Keeling and Whitesnake front man, David Coverdale. While on the subject of Whitesnake, former Whitesnake keyboardist Don Airey lends a hand on the title track ” Straight Up”.

The real star on this CD, is Taz Taylor whose excellent guitar licks grace this CD. Taylor, whose influences include MSG, Randy Rhoads, Van Halen and Gary Moore, does a good job of serving up some quality guitar work to back up Slack’s vocals.

While I have enjoyed the vocals and the guitar work on this CD, the songs aren’t quite there. It is almost as if the choruses don’t make the impact that they should. The music is good, but the songs don’t stick with me. This disc doesn’t live up to the Taz Taylor Band’s 2006 effort “Welcome to America” with Graham Bonnet.

If you listen to one song, check out “Razor Tongue”, this song is one of the highlights on “Straight Up”.

For more information on the Taz Taylor Band, check out the band’s myspace page or website. You can purchase Straight Up from Music By Mail or NEH Records, at this link.

Rating: Out of 10

Track Listing:

Lock and Load
Razor Tongue
One More Night
The Fugitive
What You Need
In Harms Way
Information Overload
Never Letting Go
Bring It
Wait No More
Straight Up

Taz Taylor Band:

Taz Taylor – Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Keith Slack – Vocals
Val Trainor – Drums
Don Airey – Keyboards

Tag: Taz Taylor Band

1 Taz Taylor Band – Straight Up (Release Year – 2009)