ORIANTHI – O

Skilled guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Orianthi’s (ex-Alice Cooper) latest album offers plenty of massive, stadium-sized riffs, infectious melodies, and more vocal hooks than yours truly can possibly count, and there is a sharp, modern edge to this contemporary-sounding hard rock output. The result is also quite varied and you get mellow ballads that serve as a good contrast to the fist-pumping rockers on the disc. Having teamed up with renowned producer/songwriter Marti Frederiksen was a great move too and he has done a most competent and admirable job here as has talented drummer Evan Frederiksen.

I definitely enjoy listening to this piece and Orianthi’s ability to craft memorable tunes is impressive, but the main problem with this record is that it is not consistently thrilling all the way through and it does contain a few songs that fall somewhere between unremarkable and halfway entertaining. This results in "O" occasionally losing some of its spark and fire. Again, this is a cool offering but it could have been more solid and cohesive with respect to quality, and it leaves something to be desired when it comes to maintaining its momentum.

This is a fiery, hard-hitting rock album that is slightly uneven but which boasts a stellar production and some monstrously huge, explosive tunes in the shape of the barn-storming opener "Contagious" and the more reflective "Sorry".

 

I Am Orianthi