CD REVIEW - Febraury 2006
NOTORIOUS BROTHERS - CD - Tune In To Radio B.O.S.S.
'Tune In To radio B.O.S.S. is an impressive eight tracks of melodic pop/rock from the hearts and souls of The Notorious Brothers. This album has a bit of everything. It's heavily guitar influenced. It's a bit of 'a blast from the past' yet contemporary and commercial. It's smooth, it's heady' it's inspirational, it's catchy. Above all, it's more than a little tasty.
The Notorious Brothers have come up with a great sounding work that showcases their individual and combined skills and personalities. This work is typically British and beautifully thought out. The songs often call on early influences from the British rock and pop scene, consequently there are many comparisons that could be made here; The Beatles, Free and Led Zeppelin - oh and a hint of The Shadows (hey, don't be put off), a mild smattering of reggae and just a drop of African rhythms - it's all there and obvious and very clever. Obvious yes, but that's not saying there's any rip off stuff here. What The Notorious Brothers have done is utilised some of the best of British from over the years, added their own blues nuances and twists and come up with a very effective sound and style. I must reiterate, The Notorious Brothers are not copying anyone here - they're just realising earlier influences and using some of those styles and sounds within the structure of their own, very impressive works.
The way that these guys have drawn on those influences and turned them to good use is superb. 'Tune In To Radio B.O.S.S.' is a very clever, very interesting piece of work. It's extremely easy to listen to and simply begs you to press the replay button - again and again. Those who've followed The Notorious Brothers over the years may find this a move too far. However, they'll come round and be joined by many newcomers to the Notorious hoards.
I think that The Notorious Brothers have been very brave but very canny with this release. It'll widen their appeal whilst hopefully holding onto their faithful. I think this is a step in the right direction.
(reproduced with the kind permission of Peter Brown AKA Toxicpete to visit his fantastic site at www.toxicpete.co.uk)