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Nelskie
April 1st, 2006, 11:51 AM
I was at my local used CD shop (Retro Disc - Moorhead, MN) the other day, browsing through their always fine selection, and what do I come across but the latest solo effort from one of my 80's metal guitar heroes, Vivian Campbell. Looking very business-like in a suit on the back cover, and holding what looks to be a vintage Gibson hollow body with one of his very large hands (you gotta' check out the size of this dude's mitts), Two Sides Of If immediately caught my interest. As I looked over the song list, and saw songs like Messin' With The Kid, I'm Ready, I Aint' Superstitious, The Hunter, and the Rory Gallagher classic Calling Card, a shiver of excitement ran down my spine. "Viv's playin' the blues!" I thought, and immediately added it to my growing handful of "must-have's". For those of you not in the know about Vivian Campbell, it was his incendiary playing that electrified Ronnie James Dio's first two post-Sabbath solo efforts, Holy Diver and Last In Line - both frequent listens during my first formative years of guitar playing.

Rather than go home and dial up the official website, or pore through the CD booklet, I decided to let the music do the talking. Since it was a nice sunny afternoon, I thought that a nice drive around town would be just the activity in which to enjoy it. After a quick stop at my local haunt, Atomic Coffee, for a solid cup o' joe, I was ready to enjoy one of my all-time favorite things to do: cruise around aimlessly awhile jamming to a good CD.

The album starts out with the Melvin London classic Messin' With The Kid. Yeah, just about everybody and their dog has covered this song, most with varying degrees of success. Fortunately, Campbell leaves his metal pyrotechnics back in his Def Leppard locker, and instead fills the number selectively with choice licks. It comes across very nicely, yet in a way that showcases his exemplary fretboard talents. Vivian is also in charge of vocal duties throughout the album (with the exception of Spoonful, which is sung by guest vocalist Joan Osborne.) Campbell has a good, inflective voice, almost Bon Jovi-ish, but still very unique. Overall, it works well with the numbers he chose for his first solo release.

I'm Ready by the legendary Willie Dixon is another fantastic blues standard that Campbell covers, and like the opening number, it's played in traditional fashion. While the first two numbers were excellent, it was the third song that sucked me in like a whirling vortex - Calling Card from the late, great Rory Gallagher. On this song, Campbell pays tribute to one of his heroes with a smoking version of the Gallagher classic, and even goes as far as to mimick Rory's trademark staccato picking technique in one section of the song (which impressed me to no end.) I liked his rendition of the song so much that I had to hit the back button on my CD player, and listen to it a second time. Awesome.

I soon lost track of time cruising around in my mobile listening lab. Each song extracted the obligatory "oh yeah!" and a resulting smile. I kept thinking that someone must've really needed the money to let this quality CD go. But then again, their loss was indeed my gain.

As the song Like It This Way came on, I noted a strange familiarity on the second guitar. While I couldn't place it at that moment, something struck a familiar nerve. The remainder of the CD soon slipped effortlessly by, at which time I noted that I was on song 12 - the last number. Shortly after the band busted into the intro section of the song, there was a volley of fills that didn't sound anything like Campbell. Then it hit me. It was the Reverend Billy G.! Had to be. Willin' For Satisfaction continued in a sublime groove, Campbell's vocals providing a jagged counterpoint to the tasty Rev-infused licks. Like the Gallagher number earlier in the disc, I ended up re-playing this one again, mostly to confirm my premonition.

It was about this time I pulled in front of Casa del Nelskie, and dying in suspense, pulled out the booklet. I smiled a big, wide Texas-sized smile when I saw a photo of the Rev and Viv talking, and of course, the Rev gesturing to Campbell in very animated form. I thought to myself how cool that must've been for a great player like Vivian having the legendary Billy Gibbons playing on and contributing to his album. Campbell also gives a nod of respect to the fellow gear-heads like myself by listing all of the guitars, amps, effects, and other gear that he used in recording the album, something that I thought was very cool. If you sit and think about it, it's something that only a guitar-player's guitar player might think of doing. And probably best of all - the dumb luck finding (quite by accident) another one of my favorite players on the CD! Really, I had absolutely no idea when I bought it that the Rev was on it.

I sat in my truck for what seemed like a few minutes, but was actually like twenty + some change. When I walked into the house, my wife inquired on why I didn't come in right away. Producing a fist-full of new CD's, she flashed me a smile, and said, "Aaaaah, you went to Retro Disc, didn't you?" She smiled again when I handed her a CD from one of her favorite bands, 10,000 Maniacs (featuring the sultry Natalie Merchant on vocals.) "Neat" she said, walking towards the stereo, ready to put it on. Gotta' keep momma happy, ya' know.

Anyways, if you dig good blues songs, and good blues players, Two Sides Of If is a treat for the senses. There's even a few secrets I'm not telling here about some other players in the band. :p Here's a few Viv-related links to check out:

http://www.viviancampbell.com/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMWIYE/qid=1143913718/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7173995-3487056?s=music&v=glance&n=5174
http://www.defleppard.com/home.html