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Blood Brothers: A Tribute to a Friend - Rose TattooMad Mark After Dark, the man that hates everything except the real thing, writing to you from the deepest darkest depths of hell. It has been close to six years since Rose Tattoo’s 2002 SPV album” Pain” was released. A lot has changed in six years, America has a new president, music can’t possibly get much worse and there is a horrible little television show called “American idol. A lot more has changed in Anger Anderson’s life and his band Rose Tattoo. On March 27,2006 founding member and slide guitarist Peter Wells lost his long four year battle with prostate cancer, later on that same year on Oct. 30, original bass player Ian Rilen lost his own fight with bladder cancer. They were both 58 years old. The death of Peter Wells has left a gaping hole in the personal and professional life of Anger Anderson, The question remains: will Rose Tattoo live on? The answer is the music must go on has a tribute to the fallen’ hero, that’s what the latest 2008 SPV release “ Blood Brothers” is all about. The mentality of the Tatts is about moving forward, the music has always been about winning the fight and defying the system, like on classic songs “Rock-n-Roll Outlaw“, Assault and Battery and “We can’t be Beaten“. The latest effort displays that same level of aggression with tracks like “Man about Town” and “Nothing to Lose”. The artwork of the new album is strikingly similar to the last album “ Pain” almost confusing with the only deference being the red lettering of their name. Another example of the lack of originality is the title “Blood Brothers” which is what the Dictators called their 1978 Elektra, Asylum release. The music of “Blood Brothers” is a rough mix of old and new, with punching rhythms and gut kicking Rock-n-Roll heard on compositions like “Standover Man“, Sweet Meat”, “Creeper” and a fitting tribute to the past heard on “Once in a Lifetime”. The current lineup of Rose Tattoo consists of Angry Anderson on lead vocals, Steve King on bass guitar, newcomer replacing the late Peter Wells Dai Pritchard on slide guitar, Paul Demarco on drums, and a welcome return of original guitarist and founding member Mick Cocks back to the fold. The album cracks open with an Australian classic recorded originally by Steve Wright back in 1974, written by Harry Vanda and George Young ex Easybeats, entitled “Black-eyed Bruiser“. Unfortunately the track is mixed terribly, with the lead vocals hidden in the onslaught of guitars and it sounds like a raw bootleg. The accompanying DVD recorded live in Wacken, Germany in 2006 has a better version of that song. I have often thought of Rose Tattoo’s music has a soundtrack of my own personal life experience especially the song “Scarred for Life” off their 1983 album of the same name, with lyrics such as: I grew up fast on a working class street/First thing I learned was life don’t come cheap/I’d taken a stand for an outlaws life/I fought tooth and nail, every inch of the way/I got scares to prove it. But until last March when I lost my own “Blood Brother” of 30 years Mike G to cancer did I realize how strongly this band affected me...So I dedicate this article and return to “The New York Waste” to my own “Blood Brother” Mike G. and also to Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist the late great Billy Powell. So I say good-bye, good riddance and you know the rest. |
