Phil Campbell's 'Old Lions Still Roar' - Album Review

With the exception of a stint with the NWOBHM also-rans Persian Risk in the early 1980s, the Welsh guitarist Phil Campbell, until recently, dedicated his whole career to Motörhead. When Campbell joined the British hard rock/metal pioneers in 1984, it is fair to say that Motörhead were really on the ropes. 1983 had seen the release of Another Perfect Day, the only Motörhead album to feature ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, an album that failed to connect with the band's fanbase and ended a run of extremely well-received releases that started in 1977 with the release of the band's self-titled debut album. Another Perfect Day has since been reappraised and many fans are now enjoying it in retrospect, but at the time it was not popular. A year later, both Robertson and drummer Phil Taylor were out of the band - leaving Lemmy as the sole-standing member. Lemmy put together a new Motörhead line-up later that year, and one of the new recruits was Campbell. With the band expanding to a four-piece, with Campbell one of two guitarists in the new-look band, Campbell was originally just part of the furniture - but over the years he proved himself to be an extremely capable guitarist, songwriter, and road dog. In fact, with the obvious exception of Lemmy, Campbell is the band's longest-serving member - having given 31 years of service. It must have been difficult for him then when, in 2015, Motörhead came to an end following the sad death of Lemmy. Motörhead had essentially been all that Campbell had ever known, with a handful of guest solos on other artists' albums being the extent of his side ventures. He never really had any side projects, instead giving everything to Motörhead and their seemingly never-ending world treks and regular album releases. In fairness to Campbell, he immediately bounced back from the downfall of Motörhead with a new band, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, and kept up his road dog lifestyle by shipping the new act around the clubs of the world. It did not take long for The Bastard Sons, made up in part of Campbell's three sons, to establish themselves on the rock circuit - and the release of last year's The Age of Absurdity (which I briefly discussed here) showed that they could write strong material on their own terms. While The Bastard Sons seems to be Campbell's focus these days, over the past few years he has often talked about releasing a proper solo album, enlisting the help of many of his industry friends. Back in October, this album was finally released and it seems to have been a real labour of love for Campbell. Old Lions Still Roar, as the album is called, is a fairly diverse collection of songs that shows sides of Campbell's playing not previously seen with Motörhead or The Bastard Sons. In that respect it is a true solo album, although with plenty of A-list help from many big (and small) names in the rock and metal worlds that Campbell has gotten to know of his years globe-trotting.

Those expecting the album to race out of the blocks will be surprised by the opening track Rocking Chair, a slow-burning piece of semi-acoustic blues featuring the vocal talents of Leon Stanford (The People The Poet) crooning over some laid back bluesy riffing and excellent slide work. Much of the album is raw and hard-rocking, but clearly Campbell wanted to also showcase some other vibes here. This song is one of the starkest contrasts to his usual style however, so it brave to put it up front. The risk works though, and gently draws the listener into the album with Stanford's storyteller-style vocals and lots of bluesy slide playing. I would love to hear more blues from Campbell in the future, as his take on the genre really works and the song kicks off the album in fine style. Straight Up is more typical of Campbell's usual style, and has in fact been featured in The Bastard Sons' setlists over the past few months. Some of The Bastard Sons appear one some of the album's tracks, with Tyla and Dane Campbell handling the bass guitars and drums respectively here, but the star of this song is Rob Halford (Judas Priest; Fight; 2wo). Campbell really has rustled up a strong cohort of collaborators here, and Halford - fresh from last year's excellent Firepower - sounds great. The song is not as heavy as Judas Priest however, instead taking on more of a strong hard rock sound, with a simple pounding bassline and a stuttering power chord riff. Sometimes a straight ahead sound is the way to go, and Halford's vocal delivery shines with class rock strut - especially during the simple chorus. Faith in Fire is heavier, and features Ben Ward (Orange Goblin) who's throatier vocals really help the track to stand out. Given Ward's vocal style, this song is probably the closest thing on the album to Campbell's work with Motörhead. This is not a fast and furious track however, but a song that moves at a slower pace that echoes early Black Sabbath at times. Motörhead occasionally slowed things down, so this track is akin to one of their rare doomier outings - although the track does speed up as it moves on with with Campbell launching into a meaty riff and fast-paced solo, as Tim Atkinson (Leader of Down) lays down a busy bassline. Swing It features Alice Cooper, another of the album's biggest name guest stars, but it is less theatrical than his usual fare. Instead the song is a modern-sounding metal track with juddering riffs and a crashing drum track once again courtesy of Dane Campbell. Considering that this is his solo album, Campbell is often fairly restrained throughout. He solos in most of the tracks, but it is always done with the finished product in mind. He does not use the album as a cause for lots of showboating, which is great to see, but he does see fit to cut loose a little more than average throughout this track with occasional bursts of bluesy lead guitar and a couple of tasteful solos. Cooper sounds great vocally as always, and sounds at home in the somewhat heavier territory.

Left for Dead strips things back somewhat, and showcases the sort of thing that Campbell might have ended up writing if he had joined Whitesnake instead of Motörhead. This is a bit of power ballad, with lots of keyboard work thanks to Danny Owen, and a really emotionally-charged vocal performance from Nev MacDonald (Skin; Hand of Dimes). There are definitely parallels that can be drawn between this track and the ballads on some of those early Whitesnake albums; with Campbell taking the opportunity to lay down a lengthy and emotional bluesy solo, and MacDonald's vocal style echoing the constant heartache of David Coverdale. For me, this song is one of the album's highlights. One of the reasons is that I just love this sort of music, but it is also because it is so different from Campbell's usual style. As much as I enjoy songs like Straight Up, it is very similar to the material found on The Age of Absurdity and some of the previous Motörhead albums. Left for Dead sounds like nothing I have heard from Campbell before, and the washings of Hammond organ throughout just elevate things to the next level. Walk the Talk is a punchier modern metal track with a commanding drum presence from Ray Luzier (Korn; KXM) and vocal lines being traded back and forth between Danko Jones and Nick Oliveri (Kyuss; Queens of the Stone Age). I do quite like the song, but at times it does sound like it is trying a bit too hard to sound modern and relevant. The best tracks here are the ones that sound natural, but I am not sure that Campbell's style really suits this kind of music. There is a bit of a nu-metal vibe to be found in some of the vocal delivery too, which is never a good thing as far as I am concerned. It just makes the song stick out like a bit of a sore thumb, so in my opinion it is one of the album's weaker moments. These Old Boots is the exact opposite however, and is one of the strongest cuts here for me. Dee Snider (Twisted Sister; Widowmaker; Desperado) handles the vocals, and does so with all the charisma and aplomb that you would expect from him, as Chris Fehn (Slipknot) pounds the drums. It is a bit of an old-school heavy metal track, with a strong driving riff and a stadium-worthy chorus that Snider of course makes sound effortless. It is interesting to see that Snider also co-wrote the track with Campbell. Considering that he deliberately does not even contribute to his own solo material these days it seems strange that he would write a song for someone else's project - but it is great to see him being creative in that manner again after a good number of years! A strange, but manic guitar solo appears part way through courtesy of Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe), which is the icing on top of an already tasty cake.

By this point all of the album's best tracks have been and gone, but there are still some strong moments appearing throughout the album's home straight. Dancing Dogs (Love Survives) is a weighty number that again recalls The Age of Absurdity although there is a bit more of a bluesy rock vibe thanks to Whitfield Crane's (Ugly Kid Joe; Another Animal) vocal style. This is easily the best of the last three songs for me, as it just races out of the blocks and lays down strong Campbell riff after strong Campbell riff - with some excellent bluesy touches such as the use of wah throughout the slightly grungy choruses. I like the fact that the album includes both familiarity and new flavours, with this song easily being the former. Considering the album is fairly short, not much longer than 40 minutes, there are a lot of vibes and styles packed in here - which is great to see. Dead Roses is another ballad, and sees Campbell largely switching over to the piano. He is of course known as a guitarist, but he is clearly a proficient pianist too, as this song shows. He is not simply just hammering out a few chords on the instrument, but instead bases all of the song's main melodies around it - only really switching over to his guitar for an aching solo. Benji Webbe (Dub War; Mass Mental; Skindred) sings the song, who does a good job at creating the ballad-esque vibe. He has never been a singer that I have particularly liked, but he does well here and sounds strong. It is a decent track that showcases Campbell's playing and songwriting in a new light, but is not one of my favourite pieces here. The album comes to a close with the instrumental Tears from a Glass Eye that is a collaboration between Campbell and Joe Satriani. It is a fairly ambient piece, and not the shred-fest that you might expect from Satriani - instead letting layers of delicate acoustic guitar lines and keyboards meld together to create the strange piece. It is interesting the album opens and closes with two of the most 'out there' songs in the context of Campbell's usual style. I have never heard anything like Tears from a Glass Eye from him before, and it goes to show how diverse a writer he is. Until recently all anyone knew him for was Motörhead, so people could be forgiven for thinking he was quite a one-dimensional musician. It is clear that that is not the case however, as some of the songs here really demonstrate. Overall, Old Lions Still Roar is a strong solo debut from Campbell that showcases lots of different moods and styles throughout its fairly short runtime. Whether we will see any more solo material from Campbell with The Bastard Sons taking off in the manner in which they have - but it is a fun, revealing album that I have been enjoying listening to a lot over the past couple of months.

The album was released on 25th October 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is Campbell's promotional video for These Old Boots.