Dusty Rhodes & The River Band

Dusty Rhodes & The River Band are back after their debut First You Live, with another impressive album, Palace & Stage. First of all I have to admit it’s been a while since I’ve listened to an album with so many different instruments bopping in between my headphones. The variation of instruments used is incredible, although sometimes a little overwhelming, but overall it works for the band. With six members in the Anaheim, California based band, I suppose they’ve all got to be doing something!

So what do they do with all these sounds? They make some of the most cheerful sounding tunes I’ve ever heard. Cheerful and chirpy guitars with occasional ukulele, vibes, bells and marimba are mixed in with the four emotional voices of the band superbly well. The band doesn’t just play one set of genre either. There are parts of songs with an extensive amount of sounds, such as blues, soul, country and just straight out rock.

Overall the record is very good and can certainly cheer up a very dull or stressful day. However, with so many different sounds and techniques mashed into the songs it’s very hard to get hooked onto the music. There’s rarely a moment when there is just one melody being played at the same time. The tracks all have a relaxed feel to them, which is great, but ultimately may be just a little samey-samey. However, I’m sure there will be people out there will just fall in love with the warm and emotional melodies packed into these charming 45 minutes.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. All One
02. Blind Lead The Blind
03. Palace & Stage
04. Andy
05. Sorry For Now
06. W.W.M.D.?
07. Fire In The Sky
08. Magic Words
09. The Ballad Of Jim & Casey
10. So Low
11. Davidians
12. Quejao

Run Time: 45:10