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