Never let it be said Michael Schenker doesn’t know a good thing when
he’s found it. With his long-time collaborator/vocalist Gary Barden, he
has released the 12-song acoustic CD Gipsy Lady. Although “Lost,”
“Dance Lady Gipsy” and “All of My Life” are pretty snappy
numbers, they are pretty much cut from the same cloth. Schenker shows off his
masterful plucking and Barden does the same with his range. It’s not until
“Fight For Freedom,” a rousing little ditty, and the instrumental
“El Grande” that things really get moving. The band is into some
very creative playing on “Starting Over,” a tune that makes full
use of backing vocals, percussionist Kai Luennemann and some fully realized
acoustic guitar playing from Schenker.
“Can’t Live On Love Alone” features Michael Voss on rhythm
acoustics, backing vocals, keyboards, bass and orchestral arrangements. The
song comes a little too close to that popular mid 80s Whitesnake territory,
but Schenker’s take is masterful again. Even when a song might be a bit
weak on this record, you can’t ignore the guitar playing. There’s
some nice piano on “Another Melody,” a sweeping ballad that might
be Baden’s best lyric on Gipsy Lady. For me, “Hungry” is by
far the best tune here. The melody soars, Barden is in compete control of the
melody (he really pushes his voice), the backing vocals slide in perfectly,
and the chorus is catchy. “The Journey,” an instrumental, ends the
CD. Here, Schenker perfectly provides great melody lines, slight bending, precise
playing and color, color color.
Over the course of Gipsy Lady, the playing is spot-on and
Schenker and Barden compliment each other like hand and glove. The tunes might
come across as too repetitious at times because Barden reportedly wrote most
of the lyrics off the top of his head, employing many of the same themes. Fortunately,
everything else rescues these minor points. Listening to this record, I’m
reminded of what Ritchie Blackmore is into these days, albeit with a much more
medieval slant. Still, it’s great to hear guys like Blackmore and Schenker
play and arrange their music around an acoustic guitar. Hopefully, we’ll
get a fllow-up to Gipsy Lady from Michael Schenker and Gary
Barden somewhere down the road.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
