DIESEL – 7 AXES
Diesel, Johhny Diesel, Mark Lizotte – it doesn’t really matter how you refer to him, this musician is a household name in Australia, and not necessarily resulting from good press. 7 Axes is an album made up of six cover songs from well-loved musicians including Neil Young, Earl King, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. So why did he chose to do covers than write his own songs? Songs like Cinnamon Girl and Satisfaction have been covered to death, and Diesel’s versions don’t offer anything particularly new and fresh. Besides the cover of Richard Berry’s Have Love Will Travel, which is done as a 80s style rock ballad with vocals by Jimmy Barnes. It feels as though this album was created for two reasons. 1) to show of Diesel’s guitar playing skills and 2) As a quick fix and attempt for easy crowd-pleasing. And just to make sure listeners are left on high, the final song is a duet with the talented rock/soul singer Carmen Smith: Come On (Let the Good Times Roll). Are you having fun yet? Diesel wants you too.
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