SOUL DOCTOR - FOR A FISTFULL OF DOLLARS (2005, FRONTIERS)
Tommy Heart - vocals
Chris Lyne - guitars
Jogy Rautenberg - bass
Mario B - drums

Background
This is album number three from German rockers Soul Doctor. Featuring Tommy Heart of Zeno and Fair Warning noteriety, and guitarist Chris Lyne, the band make their first appearance for Frontiers. Both members had a pevious association with the cleverly named Heartlyne. How witty! Anyway, so soon after, this album seems to drawing flak from many quarters. I don't know what it is with European webzines. They always seem to compare this band with Tommy's former outfit Fair Warning. Why for goodness sake? They have nothing in common. Keep it in context please. Perhaps closer aligned to Aerosmith, Gotthard, Thunder, and a whole host of American 'swagger' bands from the late 80's a la Tangier, Tora Tora and Tainted Angel, Soul Doctor have stayed true to their roots despite the temptation to 'mess' around with other styles. I'm certain that Tommy Heart fans would rather he be back fronting Fair Warning, and though they might get their wish very soon, don't go slagging this album in an attempt to hurry it up!

The Songs
Of their three albums to date, their debut by all accounts, is the pick of the bunch. Without a doubt, this album has its moments too, but you need to keep it in context - a blues oriented hard rock album, not some over-produced hi-tech melodic rock masterpiece. Staring out with 'Eatin' On Me', the early moments of this song don't sound promising, but pretty soon we are rockin' to the hilt. A good production on this one too! 'Under Your Skin' rattles the cage held under lock and key by AC/DC but that's all it does.. rattle.. The ballad 'Remember' dances around the flame that Guns N Roses once tried hard to turn into an inferno. The piano and guitar integration brings back memories from the late 80's for sure. Both 'Where Do We Go' and 'Ten Seconds Of Love' provide us with more straight-ahead rock, the latter veering to the sound once conducted by Thunder. 'She's Mine 's ia bit of a nothing song admittedly while 'The Trigger (Goin' Downhill)' gives us a gunslinger attitude to bluesy hard rock. 'Best Way To Fade' displays Gotthard like presence amid the Southern blues swagger. Even the closer 'Cheap Down And Nasty' is a Memphis Blues workout, with the traditional harmonica blast so prevalent among the Delta Bluesmen.

In Summary
'For A Fistfull Of Dollars' is probably not going to convince the ardent of melodic rock fans. The title, and album cover alone would be enough to put off the most serious of punters. However, lifetime fans of Tommy Heart probably couldn't care less about reviews and reputations. Just remember to keep Soul Doctor within the realms of the genre they are participating, and not to put them out of context. And for 2006, yes, let's all wait and see what Fair Warning have to offer.

URL: www.frontiers.it

Track Listing:
01. Eatin' On Me
02. Best Way To Fade
03. Under Your Skin
04. Remember
05. Where Do We Go
06. Ten Seconds Of Love
07. She's Mine
08. The Trigger (Goin' Downhill)
09. Give Me A Ride (The Ride)
10. Cheap Down 'n'Nasty

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Posted by gdazegod on December 04, 2005 · 0 Comments · 926 Reads ·