The Law (Featuring Paul Rodgers)

The Law (Featuring Paul Rodgers) - The Law - 1991 - Atlantic

This album when first released in 1991 received mostly poor reviews. At times, the music is a bit bland. Many critics, and Rodgers fans were used to the gritty voice of Paul Rodgers in groups like Free and Bad Company, and felt that this album was another mainstream eighties "ten a penny" commercial rock album. It is true that the songs are not a great test for the vocals of Paul Rodgers. The album has it's moments. "Stone" and "Tough Love" are good rockers. "Come Save Me (Julianne)" is a good ballad. "Miss You In A Heartbeat" was a hit for Def Leppard. Laying Down The Law" written by Rodgers, was Billboard's #1 AOR Chart hit, but the album peaked at a disappointing #126 on the Billboard's Pop Albums. There is no doubting the great talents of Paul Rodgers and Kenny Jones, but this album needed a bigger injection of hard rockin.' If you are a Paul Rodgers fan, you may find something worthwhile in this album. The album is definitely wort a listen, as only"The Voice" could make "a silk purse from a sows ear." Buy his magnificent 1994 "Muddy Water Blues" album, on which he is joined by guitarists, Brian May, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Buddy Guy, and Ritchie Sambora, and check out Paul's "Now" album @
PRODGERS/NOW

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

"For a Little ride" (Mangold, Mardones) - 3:54
"Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Collen) - 4:32
"Stone Cold" (Champlin) - 4:13
"Come Save Me (Julianne)" (Black, Downs, Roberts) - 4:01
"Laying Down the Law" (Rodgers) - 4:22
"Nature of the Beast" (Adams, Vallance) - 3:53
"Stone" (Rea) - 5:12
"Anything for You" (Diamond, McCusker) - 3:57
"Best of My Love" (Williams) - 4:36
"Tough Love" (Rodgers) - 3:41
"Missing You Bad Girl (Rodgers) - 4:42

The Law - Paul Rodgers - vocals, guitar and piano, Kenny Jones - drums

Guest Musicians

John Staehely - guitar
Pino Palladino - bass
Bryan Adams - guitar
Dave Gilmour - guitar
Chris Rea - guitar
Jim Barber - guitar
Mike Hehir - guitar
George Hawkins Jr. - bass
John McIvers - bass
Tom Pool - drums
Steve Pigott - keyboards and programming
Jon Astley - keyboards and programming
Ronnie Lee Cunningham - keyboards and vocals
Albhy Galuten - synthesizer
Joe Lala - percussion
Ian Wilson - backing vocals
Steve Butler - backing vocals

REVIEW

There is often a lot of discussion on the internet about so called ’supergroups’ and here’s another one to throw into the mix. One that’s often overlooked but perhaps that’s because the only permanently named members were the singer and the drummer! However Paul Rodgers and Kenny Jones have a pedigree that encompassed Free, Bad Company, The Firm, Small Faces, Faces and The Who and between them fashioned a release that deserves some attention. What is perhaps surprising is that the album consists predominantly of cover and Rodgers claims just three writing credits and Jones none. Opener For A Little Ride is a more than promising entree from the pen of Benny Mardones and Mark Mangold. Definite mid-tempo but solid and full of promise for an album very much in the vein of early Bad Company. Miss You In A Heartbeat does unravel that thought a bit however as its very much a ballad. Written by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen their version saw the light of day on the Retro Active collection. This version proves how much better a song can sound when Paul Rodgers adds his voice to it. Stone Cold is a cover of a Tamara Champlin song whilst Come Save Me (Juliette) is another slower number which again showcases Rodgers fine voice but just doesn’t get going. Track five is worth the CD price alone. Laying Down The Law was not just the band’s signature tune in the same way the song Bad Company provided a signature for Rodgers 70s outfit it was the first Rodgers composition on the album and everything a fan of his music could wish for. Capturing perfectly the essence of that first Bad Co. release its a superb track that oozes atmosphere and smokes along in fine style. Quite fittingly it also provided the band a number 1 hit on the US AOR chart which makes it all the more surprising to find the album stiffed completely failing to make the US top 100. The Nature Of The Beast is a Bryan Adams/Jim Vallance track originally written for and turned down by Tina Turner. Vallance is on record as being ‘a bit disappointed’ with The Law’s version but it’s not actually that good a song. Typically mainstream 80s rock (written in ‘86) and The Law’s version is decent enough without being outstanding. Stone is much, much better and displays the how widethey were willing to stretch the net for material, this one being a Chris Rea number. They pull of major coup in this case with the track featuring Rea on guitar himself and also the distinctive tones of Pink Floyd guitar maestro David Gilmour. Anything For You is a reasonable middle of the road rock song and Best Of My Love another ballad but neither rise above the filler level. Rocker Tough Love is the albums second Rodgers original and much more in line with my personal hopes for this album and another Rodgers track Missing You Bad Girl completes the album but unfortunately its at a low tempo again being yet another ballad. Whilst its not a bad song, it is in fact highly like-able, reversing the last two tracks may have left a better final impression on the listener with the classy blues-rock tones of Tough Love resonating in the memory for classy blues-rock is what this band should have been about. Summary : It’s a real shame that this partnership was unable to produce a truly stunning album instead releasing a merely solid album that is too pedestrian in places. There was promise there and Laying Down The Law has to be heard along with a few other tracks but overall its a disappointment. Although a second album was recorded it remains unreleased (although fairly easy to find for download) and the band managed only one live date… fortunately I was there! A stunning hot day at Milton Keynes Bowl in 1991 with the band supporting ZZ Top and turning in a fine performance in the afternoon mixing tracks off the album with the likes of All Right Now and Can’t Get Enough. How I wish a recording of that concert would surface as that displays this band in a much better light. If You Listen To One Track Listen To : Laying Down The Law Score : 2.5/5 © http://rockofages.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/the-law-the-law/

BIO

The Law was a short-lived, not-quite-realized AOR supergroup centered around vocalist Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, the Firm) and drummer Kenny Jones (the Small Faces, the Faces, latter-day Who). The two teamed up with the idea of using different supporting musicians, in order to allow Rodgers to pursue whatever musical style he felt like. They assembled a core band of studio musicians, including guitarist John Staehely and bassist Pino Palladino, and landed guest spots from guitarists like David Gilmour, Bryan Adams, and Chris Rea. Tired of being a primary source of material (as he usually had been in the past), Rodgers also decided to rely chiefly on outside contributions (from the likes of Adams, Rea, Def Leppard's Phil Collen, and Benny Mardones, among others). The group never really jelled, and the sole Law album -- a self-titled effort released in 1991 -- was not all that popular. Ironically, its sole hit -- the rock-radio chart-topper "Laying Down the Law" -- was penned by Rodgers; the album also contained the first recording of Collen's "Miss You in a Heartbeat," later a hit for Def Leppard. Faced with generally disappointing results, however, Rodgers and Jones laid the Law to rest. © Steve Huey, All Music Guide

BIO (Wikipedia)

The Law is the first and only album of the supergroup The Law. The Law was formed when Paul Rodgers met Kenny Jones in a nightclub in London and decided to put a band together. The two teamed up with different supporting musicians in order to give Paul Rodgers freedom to pursue whatever music style he felt like. Unlike his previous projects in which wrote or co-wrote most of the material, he relied heavily on outside writers to write songs for the album (Like Phil Collen, Rea, Bryan Adams, etc...) Ironically, the only chart topper of the album 'Laying Down the Law' was written by Rodgers himself. The album features notable appearances by David Gilmour, Bryan adams and Chris Rea. Aside from the single, the album was received very poorly by the critics and the public which leaded to disbanding of the band.