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Sleazeway Star
Los Angeles sleaze rockers Snew get a gold star in the “somewhat innovative covers dept.” because they:
a. Didn’t choose Smoke on the Water as a Deep Purple cover to record.
b. Invited an unlikely guest musician to solo on the track.
The guest is legendary prog/fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth who delivers two of his trademark insane solos on this track. One solo on his regular electric guitar and one on his SynthAxe, playing an organ sound to make his best Jon Lord impression.
The result? Well, if you’re into Mötley Crüe-type sleaze metal then you might like it. Me, not being a fan of many things sleazy, and being a fan of Allan Holdsworth, thought the solos were the coolest thing about the song.
The song will be exclusively available free for the entire month of February on the Snew website as a free download to all who registers on the site.
If you get more curious about the great Mr. Holdsworth, there are as usual several great recordings to check out on YouTube. Here’s a couple of goodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgDbfZJkSw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro26GZlg52A
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I’m a big fan of Alan’s, he is a mind blowing talent!
February 13th, 2009 at 15:12Any opportunity to see him live is a good idea, he is without peer.
WHY THIS HAS BEEN POSTED HERE!!!!!!!??????????????????”’
February 13th, 2009 at 21:36Why not?
It’s filed under ‘weird covers’ so it’s appropriate, and besides, it sure beats other versions imo, especially the gawd-awful slaughtering by Type O Negative.
The only thing I don’t like is having to give my vitals to a website in order to download something.
This is what I call ‘electronic warfare’ because you then get slammed with junk email, for entering your name and email address.
In this case you can enter a fake name, but your email address usually traces it back to the real thing anyway.
Why they need a zip code is really beyond me, perhaps for demographic figure reasons.
Off to grab it, I’ll report back…
February 14th, 2009 at 01:28Marginal… you’d think Alan would have pulled out all stops, but he ‘holds’ back a bit and then some here, probably as to not blow the band away in the process, lol!
Btw, sounds a lot like it’s all done on his synth axe here… if that’s a bloody guitar on the first solo, then it’s still patched through a guitar synth module at the very least, ya think?
Nice to hear him in a hard rock environment though.
Thanks Svante
February 14th, 2009 at 01:43isn’t this a deep purple and relatives blog???????????
February 14th, 2009 at 12:59Not exclusively, see here…
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/keywords/weird-covers/
It’s off to a slow start, but you get the picture.
February 14th, 2009 at 19:41WTF?
February 15th, 2009 at 01:11Roberto,
The subject is….”Highway Star”. A DEEP PURPLE SONG. What kind of question is that you ask? I think we are getting very close to that question I know you will be asking soon….”What’s Your Favorite Color?”
CRIPES!!!!!!!
Now, back to the SUBJECT…Sorry: This is probably the most unnecessary cover I’ve heard to date. Love Holdsworth normally, but here he isn’t even represented as far as I’m concerned. First off, the Solos (if you want to call them that) are reversed, whereby the Guitar part on the original is at the second half and the Keyboard is first. Then, the Guitar solo (which actually sounds like a lame synth) is just doodling around. Then with the main solo at the end, whereby the lighting run is to take place, all you get is some repeated Synth BS till the end. Truly a waste. Oh, and the vocalist. Listen closely and see if you hear this…..Jim Dandy, Tina Turner, and JLT all mixed into one.
I listened to it one painstaking time, it will not be played here on My Watch again….
Cheers
February 15th, 2009 at 16:41No way that first solo is not synth, I would bet my collection on it, both solo’s are synth, maybe not both played on his trademark synth axe, but both are surely synthesized.
February 15th, 2009 at 20:38OK, but Both are Lame and a waste of time I will never get back….LOL
February 16th, 2009 at 01:45LOL! Too bad Alan playing in a hard rock setting, especially playing something Ritchie wrote, has to be done so hastily, sounds like a one taker to me.(the term “take your time and do it right” comes to mind)
February 16th, 2009 at 03:04I wasn’t there for the recording of course but having listened to Holdsworth a lot though the years, I am fairly certain the guitar solo is done on guitar. That’s how weird the man plays…
February 16th, 2009 at 08:50Ah,the aging is getting scarier and scarier. I remember that tour like it was yesterday, and not a quarter of a century ago. Check out Allan’s tour shirt. I’m going to have to pull mine out for posterity… And Chad Wackerman is “the man” on the skins. Great players, all…
Peace,
Ted
February 16th, 2009 at 19:01It’s modulated though, that’s all I’m saying, regardless of what axe it is, trust me. I’ve seen his entire arsenal and it’s all synth sounding, which tells me it’s an effect, not the guitar itself that makes that sound. Yes, it’s weird, because it’s modulated. Digitized guitar playing, even sometimes delayed, all kinds of noises can be made. Try Robert Fripp for instance, he is not my cup of tea and a complete stuck up asshole in person by the way, as opposed to Alan, but his soundscaping does not come from the instrument, it’s all effects.
Not a big deal I’m pointing out really, it means nothing in the greater scheme of things, and yes, I could be wrong, and Alan is a genius either way.
Cheers
February 16th, 2009 at 19:11Saw Robert Fripp guest with G-3 in Ft. Lauderdale Florida years ago. He truly didn’t fit in and wasn’t well received…..
Cheers
February 17th, 2009 at 18:30That guy once ordered me around like a coffee waiter, and I have no respect for his “you’re nothing but pure common folk” attitude, and both Art Garfunkel and Ray Fenwick called him and said they’d like their hair back. Lol! A true ass he really is, both times I served him while he sat there and didn’t draw but 15 patrons to meet and greet him.
February 17th, 2009 at 21:48Ray Fenwick and Robert Fripp
February 17th, 2009 at 22:54two wonderful musicians…
One as far as I’m concerned, no substance whatsoever to Fripp, just meandering intellectual nonsense. Art G is better!
February 19th, 2009 at 09:37