Rock and Roll hall of famer James Williamson enlisted a couple ace vocalists for his new album “Behind The Shade” and you can clearly see how much they are capable of early in the album.

Frank Meyer and Petra Haden lend their talents to the former Stooge and the mixture of the two keep the album fresh with a couple of real standout tracks. The opening “Riot On The Strip” is a straight up punk rager. The song features what you can clearly identify as Williamson’s trademark guitar and Meyer’s aggressive vocals bring an angst far beneath his years to the song. The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs frontman uses his punk background to knock the opening song out of the park. On the follow-up “Judith Christ” Williamson and company take on a straight up Thin Lizzy approach with the snarling vocals and glam rock sound. It fits that sound so well it could have been a Thin Lizzy a-side. Things take a step back with “Pink Hearts Across The Sky” with Haden singing, it seems like a natural changeup but some tacked on saxophone comes out of left field. Some other moments like “Purple Moon” and “You Send Me Down” are good but the album never gains back the momentum after the first two songs. The end of the album drags to a near halt with “Died A Little Today” following the title track. The last song really stands out as an anomaly on the album with nothing to connect closely to it.

The record is made up of a couple great songs, a couple good songs and a little too much filler overall. There are great musicians and great music here though which makes it worth checking out.

Key Tracks: “Judith Christ” “Riot On The Stip”