Amidst the bombastic (but often sterile) pantheon of bands within contemporary Metal, it feels refreshing to relive Rock music in all its avuncular warmth. This was my first instinctive reaction on listening to John Waite's new album: "Rough & Tumble".

John's soulful voice still shows no sign of faltering despite having enjoyed a singing career that spans nearly 4 decades. Waite tasted global success with, amongst other involvements, his tenancy with Rock super group Bad English. Of course there was also his hit single 'Missing You' that anyone alive in the mid-1980's couldn’t have missed and, more recently, the tour he had done fronting the band of Ringo Starr (The Beatles drummer).

His new "Rough & Rumble" album is indeed as good as any decent Deep Purple album could hope to be and anyone familiar with the Brit shouldn't encounter any surprises. Lyrically "Rough & Tumble" appears to make no bones about the absurdity of modern society and contains quite a few memorable lines (check out: 'the Queen of England offered me some coke' - from 'Peace Of Mind' or 'It's evil when something so bad makes you feel this good’' - from 'Evil'). Musically there's a good balance of guitar solos, bluesy rhythms and catchy choruses (check out: 'Sweet Rhode Island Red' for good measure). Essentially, the album sounds much more 'in your face' than other material John Waite is better known for.

A heartily recommended album!