Black Swan Makes A Big Splash On Their Debut Album

Black Swan is a modern day super group featuring a fine array of great rock musicians from days gone by. Singer Robin McAuley, guitarist Reb Beach, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Matt Starr. Each player has a remarkable pedigree and brings strong, confident musicianship to this project which will be released via Frontiers Music on February 14th. McAuley has spent time in Vegas employed as part of Raiding The Rock Vault. He also did a brief stint with the band Survivor a few years back. Robin's voice is remarkably in tact for a guy who recently turned 67. My personal favorite moment for Robin was his performance on the MSG power ballad "Anytime". A song that has been absent from mainstream rock stations for decades now.

Shake The World delivers 11 classic hard rocking tracks that tap the influences of all the musicians involved. This is hard rock that showcases the abilities of each member. Reb Beach scorches his guitar from the opening notes of the album's title track "Shake The World" as McAuley hits the high notes. Next is "Big Disaster", a melodic hard rocker with swagger. By comparison, these boys have certainly tapped into the sound of bands like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Dio and early Dokken. After a few spins these tunes sound familiar as if they've always been there. Jeff Pilson and Matt Starr are a powerful rhythm section, creating a solid foundation for Beach and McAuley. You can hear this on the one track that reminds me of Beach's band Winger. It's called "Johnny Came Marching". The guitar break is lengthy and filled with some excellent twists and turns.

"Immortal Souls" clocks in at over 6 minutes and has a more subdued late night, dark road driving feel. It's almost something Ozzy would record. "Make It There" would make for a perfect top 40 ballad if it were 1988. A great melody coupled with some excellent heartfelt lyrics and singing. McAuley's voice has aged well. "She's On To Us" gets back to that slightly funky hard rock groove that these boys seem to enjoy laying down. Gritty, greasy, glammy. For fans of real rock, there appears to be no filler at all on this record. "The Rock That Rolled Away" is another molten slab of blazing guitars and punishing drums. There's even some big choruses that will recall the production style of the late Bruce Fairburn.

Reb Beach shreds the opening to "Long Road To Nowhere" which eventually settles into a very Dio-esque song with a high octane driving melody and beat. "Sacred Place" has Beach imitating the great Neal Schon on the song's intro followed by some plucky melodic syncopation with McAuley's convincing vocals. The lyrics and melody really channel the Scorpions in a good way, and you'd expect Robin McAuley to do that more often than not.

"Unless We Change" plays coy with an orchestral beginning which transitions to another melodic uptempo rocker again showcasing McAuley's boundless vocal energy. "Divided" is the last song on Shake The World. It's piano music bed eventually gives way to searing guitars and and big vocals. A song that could have been a straight up power ballad, but the band threw a nice curve ball in about halfway through.

A perfect way to finish off one of the better start to finish rock albums in recent memory. Robin McAuley's voice is something to behold. The production on this album will give real rock fans hope. The attention to detail and quality songwriting are only eclipsed by the superb playing of everyone involved. This super group is truly super. This might end up being your favorite hard rock album of 2020.

Album rating 9.4