Walk the Walk – Walk the Walk

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Known for his work playing for DIO from 1993 to 1999, California guitarist Tracy G.introduced the duo that would form AOR throwback WALK THE WALK in early 2020. Releasing two studio albums and two live albums with DIO, several solo albums under his own name as well as other projects with famous artists, Traci has made quite a name for himself. As for WALK THE WALK themselves, vocalist J. Adler has a pretty decent resume recording voice for David Ellefson of MEGADETH, Ray Luzier of DAVID LEE ROTH, and PAUL POSTAPH of SLAYER and TESTAMENT among many others. For the other half of the band, multi-instrumentalist Paul Alfery has shared the stage with countless artists throughout the 80s and 90s, most notably ZAKK WYLDE, STEVE VAI, and TONY IOMMI. In addition, Alfery has worked with renowned songwriters Matt Frederiksen and Stephen Williams – famous for writing hits for the likes of AEROSMITH, OZZY OSBOURNE, MOTLEY CRUE and GREAT WHITE.

Clearly, there is some great pedigree in the two-part WALK THE WALK’s self-titled debut to warrant some head turning. Due to the pandemic, work was done remotely and separately between the musicians. Adler recorded all his vocals in his studio in Sedona, AZ while Alfery handled all the instrumental tracks at his studio in Southern California. Everything would be produced by the duo alone and mixed by Alfery and Ty Sims at the Recovery Room in Conway, AZ. Their love of both melodic hard rock and big choruses with strong hooks brought them together and they just wanted to bring some of that bombastic and high flying guitar work into the year 2021.

I am happy to say, they delivered! The album is full of high flying energy and catchy choruses that will stick in your head like a heavy metal earworm for days. The album starts off heavy in American made melodic rock with “Heaven’s on It’s Way Down” and pulls no punches from beginning to end. The memories of MOTLEY CRUE, FIREHOUSE¸ and DANGER DANGER will be immediately come to your head with the adrenaline-pumping, faster than a bullet delivery of “Two Miles to Go”, “Fight on your Feet” and “Move On”. If you want more power with a bit of an edge, throw on “Running From You” or “Find the Light”. Not to be forgotten is the huge choruses of the melodic power ballad “Never Been In California”. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, there is plenty more to enjoy with this excellent ode to 80s melodic hard rock and AOR. You may not be living in the 80s but you can experience all that 80s metal like WINGER, BON JOVI and STRYPER had to offer with WALK THE WALK’s excellent debut album.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 9
Production: 8