People get sniffy about covers albums. I’ve never really been sure why. The blues, after all, was built on people taking songs, bending them into their own shape, passing them on, roughing them up, loving them, and making them live again.
Thankfully, no one told Carmine Appice. Two years after Cactus first unbarred the doors to the “Temple Of Blues”, they are back inside, the amps are up, the guest list is ridiculous, and the whole thing sounds like it was done for one reason only: because everyone involved fancied having a very good time.
“Back Door Man Pt. 1 & 2” sets the tone. With Eric Gales and Billy Sheehan involved, it was never likely to be polite, and nor is it. It is as sleazy as it should be, the guitar work is sensational, and when they stretch out at the end, it turns from a song into a proper event.
That is the thing with this record. It never feels like Cactus have simply picked a bunch of standards and phoned them in. “300 Pounds Of Joy”, with Ty Tabor, is anchored by Appice, who can still really, really play, while the slide guitar work is to die for. “Moanin’ At Midnight”, featuring Pat Travers, is as classic as blues gets: all skill, warmth and class.
There is knowledge here too. “Down In The Bottom”, with Dug Pinnick, underlines not only the quality of the cast list, but also the fact that this has been curated by people who know exactly what they are doing. “Token Chokin’” has soul and groove before Bumblefoot’s solo explodes out of it, and “Bad Stuff” lets the keys drive things forward, with Steve Morse, Joe Lynn Turner, Derek Sherinian and Tony Franklin all adding their weight.
“Tail Dragger” is all about the harmonica, while “The Little Red Rooster” gets a different kind of treatment altogether, Dee Snider, Tracii Guns and Jimmy Haslip making sure it does not simply become another version of a song everyone knows. “Purple Haze” is harder, because there are only so many new things you can say about something that iconic, but Melanie gives it a different colour.
“Spoonful” is perhaps the most telling choice. It was not one I was overly familiar with in this context, and maybe that speaks to the depth of knowledge Cactus bring to the table. Ted Nugent and Bob Daisley help make it one of the more intriguing moments here, before “Feel So Good”, with Billy Sheehan and Britt Lightning, ends things almost as a jam, bookending the whole record rather neatly.
The blues is hard to get wrong, that’s fair to say. But it is difficult to get it as right as this. As covers albums go, “Temple Of Blues II” is right up there.
And you know what? There is not enough fun in the world. This knows it. This wants to fix it.
RATING 8/10
