"Fist Full Of Devils": Earl Slick's New Tour de Force

 

 

I've read a couple of notices and brief reviews that describe the new Earl Slick record as a "blues record." I can only surmise that those making these silly comments have either not listened to "Fist Full Of Devils," or are so young, "the blues" means Starbucks got their "coffee drink" wrong. "Fist Full Of Devils" is an instrumental tour de force, and that doesn't make it a blues record anymore than a jazz record. This is a record full of songs, melodies and hooks, and some truly fantastic playing.

I've been a fan of Earl Slick ever since that solo...that tone...that screamed out at me on "Cracked Actor" from David Bowie's 1974 live record "David Live." 

And the rest is history. 

 

 

So let's get to "Fist Full Of Devils," co-produced by another Bowie employee, the brilliant Mario McNulty, who recently reinvented Bowie's 1987 mistake "Never Let Me Down" into a new, very listenable and very likeable rock record.

I was hoping this wasn't going to be a self-indulgent shred-fest, or some amelodic noodling. I wanted to like this record. And I do. Very much. I should have known better. Earl Slick has never been about playing fast, or overplaying. He's always been right where he needed to be, saying just what he needed to say in as few words as possible. And always sounding like Earl Slick. (Think of that intro to "Men Without Shame" from Phantom, Rocker & Slick. That could only be Mr. Earl.)

If you had played half of this record for me and told me they were finished backing tracks to a lost Bowie record, I would have believed you. Slick's old boss is here in more than just spirit on a number of tracks, especially "Vanishing Point" and "Lost," which would have fit perfectly on "Heathen" or "Reality."

There are also two tracks that pay homage to another former employer of Mr. Slick. 

"J.W.L.," a co-write with the mad genius Mark Hudson, and "Dr. Winston O'Boogie" are not overtly Beatle-esque, but both contain enough quotes and phrases that say "Mission accomplished."

A personal favorite on the record is "The Lantern," which reminds me in both style and attack of the great Mick Ronson and his take on "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue."

When you've been a fan of a player for as long as I have been a fan of Earl Slick, a new record almost 50 years after the fact, and at least 20 since the last solo record, can be daunting. To restate what I said above, I really didn't want to not like this record. So imagine my thrill as each song unfolded into one better than the previous. If you're a fan of Earl Slick's playing, "Fist Full Of Devils" is worth your time. It is arguably the strongest and most realized set of music of this guitar legend's career. 

And it is not a damn blues record!

You can pick up a copy of "Fist Full Of Devils" over here and over here.