Cozy Powell - Tilt

Polydor Records

Wailing saxophone, strong bass lines and excessive synths are what greet you when you put on Cozy Powell's second effort as a solo artist. Elmer Gantry, former front-man of basically unknown '60s psych-pop group Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, provides great rasp and an almost demanding tone to the songs rather creative lyrics. I'd love to give Cozy credit for the words on "The Right Side", but unfortunately he didn't write this--in fact he only has one writing credit on this whole album, and it's a shared one at that. "The Right Side" does have a good groove, however,  and sounds very much like the sensation of burning your arm feels. Unfortunately, the drumming isn't all that interesting and honestly feels rather lazy. 

"Jekyll & Hyde" cuts in with the jarring intro of obnoxious, overzealous synths/keys, and the vocals are granted a certain fork-scraping-plate quality with how reminiscent they are of the voice of a dirty old man. Terribly unpleasant. The bass and guitar are also lacking on this one in a very can-I-get-my-paycheck-and-go way. The standard piano is a nice standout, and adds an extra odd edge to the song, but it doesn't have any of the fun experimentation you would expect of a song titled "Jekyll & Hyde". 

With a take-me-out-to-dinner-tonite romantic feel on the keys and lyrics that are mildly interesting (but not that great), "Sooner or Later" was clearly intended to be the commercial song of the record, which depreciates the quality quite noticeably. The vocals are VERY '80s standard on this one, with Elmer Gantry delivering the washed-up-stadium-singer sound which really shines through with the help of that guitar part. Not exactly my bag, though I'm sure people who like Sammy Hagar's solo career can get their kicks outta this. 

"Living A Lie" opens with an oh so dramatic piano intro, it's unfeeling coldness making the song sound right out of a '30s Noir film until the guitar comes in. The guitar is similar in style to that of very early Jimmy Page, and Frank Aiello's range and despondent, brooding "nobody understands me" tone is perfectly suited for the woe-begotten wallowing blues rock of this track, and a very good traditional style of it, too. The first guitar solo isn't anything to write home about, but the second one is much more interesting to listen to with the added rising action of the drum and bass leading to a decent conclusion. 

The mix of discordant keys and guitar on "Cat Moves" is disconcerting, similar to what it feels like when you're strung out on something, whether it be fever or cough syrup or what-have-you, and your brain is incoherent and full of static. There's a great '80s sound on this one, the typical funk bass provided by Jack Bruce working well with the synths. Jeff Beck also provides the familiarity of his vibrant, loose and muddy style, but like most Jeff Beck centered songs it quickly devolves into repetitive background noise. This is the kind of song that jazz nerds write pretentious, over-congratulatory articles about while completely ignoring contributions from black artists. 

 "Sunset" is smooth, drifty and brings back the earlier romantic feelings. Musically it is very similar to Santana's "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)", which is probably completely coincidental. This song is one you can disregard completely, as apart from the piano taking the lead 3/4ths of the way through, very little changes throughout and it's simply not interesting. 

"The Blister" isn't all that better, starting off with the clatter and clamor of a racetrack, the instruments working to seemingly simulate the atmosphere of such a place. It is much more spirited and sprightly then the previous two songs, and if you tried hard enough you could dance to it, but that guitar work quickly gets stale since it's primarily used just for showing off, and the conclusion is lackluster. 

Our closer, "Hot Rock", is somber and sedate in its synth-heavy intro, and becomes slightly more boisterous when the guitar and drums take the lead. The song is lethargic and inactive, however, and doesn't succeed at grabbing attention. The kind of music you do chores to. 

While Cozy Powell is much more well known for his instrumental work, the entirely instrumental b-side of this record is not worth much attention at all unless you really like this guy or are a completionist of Jeff Beck's or Gary Moore's discographies. While the instrumentals are all quite distinct from each other, they lack any spark that would make them worthwhile. There's only really three or four songs on this record that are worth any time. Don't waste your money on this one. 

Rating: 2.7/5