The other day, I reviewed an album by Devin Townsend. As I thought about it, I realized that it’s tempting to think of him as some musical alchemist, creating music in his lab of all different kinds.
George Lynch is cut from the same cloth. For as long as I’ve been listening to hard rock, he’s been there, shredding his guitar for all he’s worth. Whether it was with Dokken, Lynch Mob, or the recent collaboration that became Girish And The Chronicles, for decades, he’s been doing whatever he likes. Moreover, his presence is almost always a mark of quality and an assurance of innovation.
For Cassandra’s Crossing, he’s teamed up with Cassandra Carson—she’s the singer in the Midwestern hard rock band Paralandra—and her brilliant voice adds a totally different dynamic to “Garden Of Earthly Delights” than usual. “Stranger,” the opener, ushers itself in on the back of some double kick drums, slightly heavier than you imagined, and there’s a darker edge to “Impatient” as Carson digs deep. But it’s the balance between her and Lynch that is so impressive.
These songs sound massive. From the bass to the soaring hook, “Closer To Heaven” belongs in arenas, and there’s just this almost effortless way of doing things that they both have. In the days of MTV, you can imagine “Ring Me Around” being huge.
And what of Lynch? Well, he seems to have found his full range of tricks, adding to tracks like “Devastating Times” in what is always the right way.
You never feel, though, that he’s playing for playing’s sake. Instead, he always has the song in mind. Scanning the track list, you might think that “Waltzing Nites” was some folky “Blackmore’s Night” type of thing. Nope. Nothing here except classy hard rock.
And that means the stuff like the sassy “Just Business.” “Bow down to the queen now, baby, and watch me walk away,” sings Carson, as if she’s relishing it.
There’s plenty of color here, whether it’s the groove of “Mind Eraser,” the heavier—almost metal—”Run For Your Life,” or the brilliant “Wicked Woman.” They’re bound together by class and an evident love for the craft—and it’s no joke that if Halestorm had the latter, it would go gold.
There are no ballads here, which is to its credit. Instead, it ends with “Kneel Before You,” which almost dots all the i’s and crosses the t’s on this quite superb rock album.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed, either, that this has come out on the Frontiers Label. The Italians who run it specialise in these types of collaborations. Whoever put this one together has played a blinder because this garden blooms as well as any.
Rating: 8/10
REVIEW: CASANADRA’S CROSSING – GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS (2024)
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