Concert Monkey accelerator “Badder to the Bone” review

Great to hear from my friends speaking Dutch and looking for me to tour the Netherlands. CONCERTMONKEY is reading not just my discography but listening to it also. Here’s the translation just in time, once again I omitted much of it and you can check it out over there…

“The album opens with the exciting ‘United We Stand’, in which Eliza communicates her positive message to her fans and music lovers. She calls on everyone to join forces and fight together for unity in the difficult period the world is currently in. Drummer Jeffrey Fowlkes provides an uplifting Bo Didley drumbeat and Michael Puwal eagerly scatters the entire song with fat slide riffs. Co producer Michael Puwal also provides the pounding bass line in this song. Eliza sings this battle song with a lot of power and conviction. Then the pace slows down for the nearly seven-minute slow blues ‘Queen Of The Nile’. Peter Keys carries the melody of this great song with his warm Hammond B3 sounds. This is blues at its best. Instrumentally, guitar virtuoso Lance Lopez puts ‘Queen Of The Nile’ completely to his liking, with fantastic riffs and masterful solo work. His guitar work fits perfectly with the beautiful raw voice of Eliza Neals, who once again delivers an excellent vocal performance. With her voice and empathy, Eliza evokes Neal’s memories of Janis Joplin. For lovers of slow blues songs, ‘Queen Of The Nile’ will be a feast for the ears. Top number. The Covid pandemic has left its mark on everyone, including Eliza Neals. In the mid-tempo blues rocker ‘Lockdown Love’, Eliza tells how she experienced this difficult period and the accompanying frustrations of lockdowns and bubbles. The heavily thumping bass line and the splitting and razor-sharp strings come from Michael Puwal.”

Super to hear the music is creating the feelings that I get when I’m in the studio creating and recording.

“The accelerator is fully depressed for the searing guitar driven blues rocker ‘King Kong’. It is a love song in which Eliza compares her lover to the legendary gorilla from the movie ‘King Kong’. The rhythm section, with drummer Tim Grogan and bassist Jason Kott, puts a strong emphasis on it. Eliza Neals wrote this exciting rocker and she sings the song again with the necessary force and conviction. Lance Lopez once again shows his class as a guitarist with searing and dexterous guitar work. Eliza sounds very emotional in the sad love ballad ‘Bucket Of Tears’. The tremolo driven guitar work of Michael Puwal gives ‘Bucket Of Tears’ a soundtrack-like touch. With the catchy, vintage rocker ‘Got A Gun’, Eliza Neals takes us to the music of the sixties. In this song, the blond singer warns the men not to play with her feelings, because she has a revolver and that she will use it if necessary. Bassist Paul Randolph and drummer Skeeto Valdez form the rhythm section and in the instrumental part you can enjoy the wonderful organ sounds of John Galvin and the excellent strings of guitarist Billy ‘JC’ Davis. Neals sounds very passionate in the energetic midtempo rocker ‘Fueling Me Up’. With a handsome slide solo and ditto riffs, Michael Puwal gives this sad love ballad even more cachet. Eliza Neals on piano and John Galvin on Hammond B3 again deliver great keyboard work and backing singer Kimberli Wright completes the vocal part (incorrect Kymberli only sings on HEATHEN, I did all the other vocals).”

Accelerator I know that one being from Detroit. I like it fast but in control so there’s no question on what direction we are going and when I will get there…

“…I have long been a fan of the music and the voice of Eliza Neals and with this album the American from New York knows how to charm me again. ‘Badder To The Bone’ is an energetic and beautiful album. Nine strong songs that are sung with full dedication by the excellent and powerful voice of Eliza… Eliza Neals is not yet known to the general public in Europe. Hopefully that will change with this album, because this excellent singer deserves to be on the European festival stages and clubs. Eliza Neals is a brilliant pianist and an outstanding singer and songwriter. (8.5/10)”

Super CONCERT MONKEY thank you for lending me your ear and hopefully I will meet you in person one day at a European Festival.