There are probably very few classic rock fans out there who don’t have at least a half dozen albums in their collection where Don Airey is performing on keyboards… it’d probably be less time consuming to list the bands and artists he hasn’t performed or recorded with. Currently the keyboard man with the legendary Deep Purple, stepping up to the mark to replace Jon Lord in 2001, who stood down when he was too ill to continue, he’s also played in Rainbow, Colosseum 2, Gary Moore’s band and Whitesnake, as well as guesting on albums like Black Sabbath’s Never Say Die and Judas Priest’s Nostradamus, to name but a very few. In short, he’s been around the block once or twice!
But, as well as being one of classic rock’s ‘go to’ men when a particular sound is wanted, when time permits, he also has his solo career, with Pushed To The Edge being his third such album. Both his previous solo albums have been a showcase for his amazing talent on the keys, and this one continues in the same vein, with Airey letting rip on the keys on tracks like ‘Rock The Melody’ and ‘Power of Change’ with some very fine playing.
One of the positive things about keyboard players is they tend to know a lot more about music (a topic Airey has a degree in) and music theory than the average rock guitarist, and he uses this to good effect. Overall, though, the album is heavier and rockier than I was expecting, with Airey happy to be one of the band rather than be the ‘out front’ musician. This was evident on the opening track, ‘Tell Me,’ which could almost be Rainbow, with vocalist Carl Sentance from Nazareth channelling his inner Ronnie James Dio, and with far more guitar than keyboards. This song has the definite edge of old school classic rock, with very solid musicianship and a decidedly ‘British’ sound. This continues on several other tracks, notably ‘Moon Rising,’ the riff heavy ‘Edge Of Reality’ and the Purple-like ‘Out Of Focus’.
But it isn’t all rock outs. ‘Flame On The Water’ is a much quieter piece and commercial enough to be a single. Airey also demonstrates his composing skills on the instrumental track, the delightful ‘Girl From Highland Park,’ where Purple guitar man Simon McBride shows he’s as adept on acoustic guitar as he is on electric. Finnegan’s Awake is also instrumental, leaning heavily towards prog and features fine playing from McBride and Airey.
I suspect this album will be consumed mainly by fans of Rainbow and Purple, but nonetheless it’s the sound of Don Airey having some fun with musician friends, playing good, solid no frills or pretension British classic rock, to which Airey has made a not insignificant contribution down the years.
