It’s that voice – few people (if any) can match Glenn Hughes when it comes to combining sheer rock energy with such soulful depth. Paired with a kick ass band, Hughes frequently proves unstoppable, and the Dead Daisies are nothing if not a ferocious rock and roll unit. Featuring Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio), Deen Castonovo (Bad English, Journey) and David Lowy (Red Phoenix, Mink) the band is unique in that it’s a roving collective that has featured some of the biggest names in the rock firmament. Nevertheless, where roving might imply a certain hesitancy, there’s none of that here and Glenn slots in like he’s always been there, running rampant on bass and vocals with such fervour that you’re hooked from the first feverish riff all the way to the last crash of the cymbals.
Kicking off with Holy Ground (Shake The Memory), you can practically hear the tubes start to glow, before the rat-a-tat of Deen’s snare launches the song. So far, so Daisies… but then, into the melee, strides Glenn Hughes, majestic and crackling with energy and the whole thing goes up a notch. It makes for one hell of an introduction to the revitalised line up and Like No Other, which follows hot on its heels, proves the chemistry is real. It’s tempting, given the attention that Glenn’s voice inevitably attracts, to forget that he’s also a bassist of no mean talent, and the gruelling runs that underpin Like No Other make the point with considerable force. Not that the rest of the band are in any way in Glenn’s shade – this is a group effort, and the crystalline riffs that Doug and David lay down have real bite. Indeed, Come Alive (an instruction you feel duty bound to follow) is a riff monster, caught between the funky strut of Deep Purple’s Burn and the feral energy of Guns ‘n’ Roses. Deen kickstarts the slithery Bustle And Flow, a greasy rocker with sweet riffs and a vocal lost in a tunnel of reverb, the band effortlessly summoning the spirit of countless 70s rock anthems along the way. Next up, the dynamic sweep of My Fate, which deftly moves between the soulful musing of the verse and some truly splenetic riffing, hits with real force, as does Chosen And Justified – an energetic belter that seems to sweep past in a fraction of its run time.
Kicking off the second half of the album, and packing a mighty chorus, Saving Grace recalls the epic power of the debut BCC album, Glenn wrapping his lungs around the vocals as Doug and David unleash their riffs with glorious abandon. A brief nod to the band’s bluesier inclinations sees Unspoken take on an AC/DC aspect, whilst the whipcrack drums of 30 Days In The Hole –announce a surprisingly potent throwback to the period before the Sunset Strip became a hairspray-coated parody of itself. A lighter riff wrongfoots the listener on Righteous Days, teasing a moment of calm before the big guns come crashing in once more. Another track that could easily provide the band with arena-filling ammunition (current circumstances not withstanding), it sees Glenn at the top of his game and the band match him every step of the way. It paves the way for the album’s final track, and it seems fitting that Far Away is the first and only time that the band take their collective foot off the gas. An emotional and suitably epic finale, the strings with which the band augment the track give the piece a cinematic feel and it brings the curtain down on arguably the Daisies’ finest outing to date.
Holy Ground is very much a passion project from a group of musicians who have dedicated their lives to the cause of rock ‘n’ roll. Listening to the record, there’s not a hint that this is a loose-knit collective, and the chemistry exhibited here is a joy to behold. Glenn, who seems incapable of giving anything less than his all, is absolutely in his element here, and the band provide him with the sort of righteous, hard-rocking backdrop that a performer of his presence demands. I went into Holy Ground expecting a good record, but I found a great one. There’s no artifice here, just four fantastic musicians sharing their passion in a studio. Not a moment is wasted and, by the time Far Away has wrapped everything up in the most gloriously Zeppelin-esque way imaginable, you’re left stunned by the sheer physicality of it all. Hugely impressive, Holy Ground is 2021’s first unmissable album. 9/10
