Album Re-Review — Roxanne

Roxanne — Radio Silence

Timing is everything. That old saying holds true for many things including album releases. Roxanne returned last October after a nearly three decade hiatus with a very strong record, “Radio Silence”. That day also happened to be the same day that Ted Poley released his latest record which was one of my favorite records of 2018. So needless to say, “Radio Silence” didn’t get its due time on the player.

So with a slow week of releases (don’t worry, some big records coming out soon) it’s time for a Re-Review.

The first thing I noticed when listening to “Radio Silence” again is how familiar Jamie Brown’s voice sounded. I listened to their first record quite a bit thirty years ago, but it was more than that. It took a while but I finally figured it out…Billy Squier. Brown sounds like vintage Billy Squier.

I remember when I first listened to this record that musically it reminded me of Extreme. There’s that funky element, the pronounced harmonies and that groove that I like so much about Extreme. So there it is — imagine Extreme with Billy Squier singing.

Roxanne is on Rat Pak Records and are label mates with KXM (who have a new record releasing soon). All three members of KXM (Dug Pinnick, George Lynch and Ray Luzier) all guest on the record.

Now for the songs. There are five fantastic tracks on this record. The other six songs are good, but these five stand out.

“Girl’s Alright” is a mostly acoustic track that features a huge hook in the chorus and some great vocal harmonies. This one would have been a big hit back when rock bands had big hits.

“Broken Chandeliers” has a similar feel to “Girl’s Alright”. We get some more fantastic vocal harmonies and it’s just a well-written and performed song.

The band chooses to cover a lesser known song but a personal favorite in “Man In The Moon”. It was originally released by the John Corabi-fronted The Scream. They stick very close to the original but it’s such a good song and there’s just enough difference that it’s a great addition.

The album ends with two very strong songs. “I Don’t Want To Live This Way” is a mid-tempo track with more big hooks. This one sounds like it came straight out of the late 80s when hard rock was king.

The seven minute “First Mistake” wraps up the record and it’s a great song to close things out. More harmonies, some excellent musicianship and just a well put together song.

The rest of the tracks are all good and quite diverse. “Super Bad” features Lynch on guitar and is quite funky. “Go F*** Yourself” sees Pinnick sharing lead vocals and again Lynch on guitar. It’s a cool song but probably wasn’t the most radio friendly choice for a first single. “Without Us” has a very 70s Queen sound to it.

“Radio Silence” is a really good record. It has that late 80s hard rock feel to it but it doesn’t sound dated. The songs are diverse and interesting. This record deserved more recognition when it was released and is definitely worthy of a listen if you haven’t checked it out yet.

90 out of 100

Track listing

1. Someone To Kill
2. Girl’s Alright *
3. Super Bad
4. Thin Blue Line
5. Broken Chandeliers *
6. Go F*** Yourself
7. Man in the Moon *
8. Without Us
9. Quarter To Four
10. I Don’t Want to Live This Way *
11. First Mistake *

*Best Songs