Blaze Of Glory review: I blame this world for making a good man evil

I never heard the long version before. I like the short one better as it makes for a nice exclamation point on the album between Blaze and Santa Fe.

Excellent!

Great to see Walrus's reviews are back.

Santa Fe - As soon as the opening drum beat ushers in the (I would presume synthesised) string arrangement, this song just screams "epic" and "masterful". Everything about this song is fantastic: the intensely powerful lyrics telling the story of Billy The Kid's / Jon's loneliness and disillusionment with the world; the sheer strength and charisma of Jon's voice (demonstrating that screams are NOT needed for an amazing rock voice), as it moves ably from a rougher, huskier, quieter and more introspective tone to full on, impassioned near shouting; and the fantastic arrangement, with the strings, piano, acoustic and electric guitars, and drum fills being used just as dynamically as Jon's voice, building to a huge wall of sound for the chorus. The only slight complaint here is the guitar solo: played by Jon, it would have been interesting to hear him play a real solo, but instead we are given a very simplistic, workmanlike solo, which is buried so low in the mix that it's difficult to hear over the strings. But it's a minor detail when the song as a whole is so powerful. As the rest of the instruments stop and the strings play a quiet outro, you can't help but feel awestruck about what you have just listened to. One of Jon's finest moments by far

5/5

I've been waiting for Santa Fe to come around. in my opinion the best song jon has ever written, it truly is epic. it's a song where i want to listen to it over and over but find myself rationing it because i don't want it to lose it's effect....anyway great review and i totally agree. it's a shame i will never hear this live, maybe it would be rubbish...but i'd like to give it a shot

I don't believe it's ever been played live has it? It's a shame cos it's such a great song, but it's easy to see how difficult it would be for Jon to pull off live, even back in the early 90s, let alone today!

I did start writing the review for Justice In The Barrel, but I can't be bothered to finish it tonight. Might have a go at doing it tomorrow before I head off to Germany, otherwise it's gonna have to be next week sometime. I wanna start on a new album, dammit!

I agree with Kathleen. I was listening to the BOG album a while ago and it really was demoralizing to realize how much Jon´s voice has deteriorated since those days.
I think BOG is a very unique album. Can you imagine any other frontman of a hard rock band doing a solo effort like this?

Sami

Justice In The Barrel - The introduction to this is absolutely amazing. The sound of the wind blowing while the male and female tribal singers sing not only bring the song to life but also connect it to the Old West of the movie, and when it gives way into the majestic guitar intro, which then degenerates into a furious guitar and drum duel, with Jon repeating "There's no justice" over it, it's hard to imagine anything more awesome. Then, with a crash, the funky riff and drum beat come in, before opening up into a more soaring sound, then quietening again for Jon to begin singing. From here, the song is an offbeat, funky blues number with quirky guitar fills and irregular drum patterns, with Jon relating the story of the unfairness and loneliness of Billy’s life and circumstances. Jon as usual is in fine and flexible voice, with the “They talk to me in my sleep at night” bridge being a particularly strong vocal moment; followed by an impressive guitar solo which starts off as a fast paced steel guitar solo (disclaimer: this might be inaccurate, I don’t have the liner notes to hand and am just going on what the instrument sounds like based on my own very limited knowledge) before suddenly becoming a more typical fully electric solo. An equally cool moment comes a mere 20 seconds later, where halfway through Jon’s repetition of the opening “Hey Mr, can you help me?” line the instruments suddenly screech to a halt, leaving Jon to finish the line acapella, before wondering “Or are you my gun?” with only a synthesiser accompaniment. Finally, the instruments kick back in for the big finish, with some very long sustained notes from Jon as he repeats over and over that there’s “justice in the barrel of a loaded gun”. Overall this song is a masterclass in guitar work and atmospherics, while just happening to have quite a danceable melody as a bonus, and paired with Santa Fe forms an incredible midsection for the album.

5/5

Never Say Die – The second of the two uptempo hard rock tracks on the album. Taking its cue very much from Thin Lizzy, particularly strong on this song are the vocal harmonies and the twin guitars: both of them emphasising the songs themes of friendship and brotherhood … the repetition in a different voice of each line in the “They ask what it is that I want written …” bridge sounds like it’s one person giving his instructions to another, who is repeating them back to him. Also notable is the pure hard rock guitar solo and drum fill, and the hooky “That’s right!” shouts. Lyrically, this could be seen to a precursor to later songs about not backing down, although much more sophisticated … I just have to reproduce the bridge lyrics in full, as they are fantastic, combining as they do faith and defiance: “They ask what it is that I want written / On the gravestone where I’ll lie / Tell them it’s just my bones that died there / So save the tears they’ll cry / My spirit is still riding / Somewhere’s in this night / And it’s these three words that come to me / As I kiss this world goodbye / Never Say Die”. Pure brilliance. Overall, this song is pure 70s rock, and it might be that I prefer both the 80s and 90s to the 70s musically, or it might be that the song is a slight rip of The Boys Are Back In Town, ; but I think that, like Billy Get Your Guns, it lacks the sheer scale of most of the rest of the songs on the album, and sounds a little out of place alongside them

3.5/5

You Really Got Me – A bluesy little duet between Jon and Little Richard, sounding incredibly sparse compared to the multilayered songs on the rest of the album: only piano, guitar, drums and voices in this one. And it’s badly recorded too, infact it sounds like Jon wanted to try to recapture the vibe from Ride Cowboy Ride and Love For Sale from New Jersey. But while this song is a fun number, with snarky and clever lyrics (example: “You bought a knife out to a gunfight / Now you’re shouting that I’m dead / My old friends Smith and Wesson think you’re in over your head”), a charming one-take jam feel, and a piano solo; it doesn’t come across as nearly as good as the two songs from the New Jersey album

3/5

Interesting.

Generally i haven't listened to Justice as much as the others, it was probably the one i least connected with on the album. Plus most of my car journeys are short and i have no time for such a long intro :P
And I love Never Say Die.
And think You Really Got Me is better than both Ride Cowboy Ride and Love For Sale.

But i will go and re-listen and comment again after...

Good reviews by the way. Always a good read.