When Carmine Appice calls, one doesn’t keep him hanging on, one says yes: that much had been known way before the legendary drummer’s “Guitar Zeus” albums gathered the best players in the land – his reputation from the prog-prototyping start of VANILLA FUDGE to disco-driving period of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” co-penned with Rod Stewart and beyond the stint with Ozzy Osbourne is rock solid. Still, of all the projects the veteran used to be part of CACTUS must be the least celebrated, despite this band’s strong string of records in two life spans, one running from 1969 to 1972 and the other from 2006 until now. And while there was never a shortage of fresh material, as 2021’s "Tightrope" suggested rather convincingly, its follow-up passed the ensemble’s classic pieces to quite a few stellar guests.
Temple Of Blues
Scheduled for release on June 7th, the platter titled “Temple Of Blues” is comprised from new variants of tracks from the collective’s first three studio LPs and features, alongside Appice, original guitarist Jim McCarty, whereas an entire array of famous musicians, who were influenced by them, are their friends and connections – the former represented by Carmine’s colleagues, Mark Stein and Pat Travers, the latter by Ted Nugent, an erstwhile member of THE AMBOY DUKES in which CACTUS’ first singer Rusty Day had served. Of course, it would have been great to hear former vocalists Peter French and Jimmy Kunes here, the likes of Dee Snider should make up for these warblers’ absence, and with instrumentalists including Doug Pinnick and Vernon Reid all the complaints should be off – at least until we get to see the forthcoming “Evil” video.
1. Parchman Farm – feat. Joe Bonamassa & Billy Sheehan
2. Bro. Bill – feat. Randy Jackson, Randy Pratt & Bob Daisley
3. Guiltless Glider – feat. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal & Phil Soussan
4. Evil – feat. Dee Snider & Doug Pinnick
5. One Way… Or Another – feat. Doug Pinnick & Ted Nugent
6. Alaska – feat. Johnny A. & Tony Franklin
7. No Need To Worry – feat. Warren Haynes & Jorgen Carlsson
8. Oleo – feat. Steve Stevens & Billy Sheehan
9. Big Mama Boogie – feat. Pat Travers & James Caputo
10. You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover
11. Rock N’ Roll Children – feat. Britt Lightning, Vernon Reid & Rudy Sarzo
12. Let Me Swim – feat. Doug Aldrich & Marco Mendoza
13. Restrictions – feat. Ty Tabor & Phil Soussan
14. Long Tall Sally – feat. Mark Stein & Fernando Perdomo
15. Guiltless Glider – feat. Tim “Ripper” Owens
