Myles Kennedy: Year Of The Tiger

[caption id="attachment_36767" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Myles Kennedy: Year of the Tiger[/caption]

Year of the Tiger CD Review - by Robin Ervolina

Myles Kennedy, the instantly recognizable voice of both Alter Bridge and Slash and the Conspirators will release his first solo CD Year of the Tiger on March 9th, 2018. The celebrated vocalist and guitar player is rock royalty, but Year of the Tiger is not a rock album. Missing are the furious guitar solos and the signature Kennedy high register. The metal-edge is absent as a softer Myles emerges. It’s clear the artist has more music inside him, but why would this rock god veer away from what he does so well? It’s simple: Myles Kennedy has a story to tell, and he must take off his royal garments to don his father’s mantle. 

 

Kennedy’s father died in 1974 (the year of the tiger) when Myles was four years old. Year of the Tiger tackles his father's untimely, and perhaps wholly unnecessary death.

My family was very involved in the Christian Science church. So, when he became ill, he chose not to seek medical attention, and passed away a few months later. By all accounts, my father was a good, honest man, but I still can’t understand his decision to die from something that didn’t need to happen.

Year of the Tiger

The title track “Year of the Tiger” sets the tale in motion and is written from his mother’s perspective. It's a dark, harmonic, and chugging tune, like a widow trying to move through her grief. Kennedy describes it as “a battle cry of resolution, to persevere under those circumstances.” “Turning Stones,” “Ghost of Shangri-La” and “Mother” also focus on her in the aftermath of her husband's death. All feature that same forward-motion rhythm, a brilliant score for the scenes and emotions Kennedy still carries.

 

Myles also talks to his father a great deal in Year of the Tiger. In “Blind Faith” he sings “Faith can be blind, but it cannot justify the tragedy of love’s demise.” “Nothing But a Name” digs deeply into his grief, and with naked honesty. 

Your conviction, your belief, how could you choose that over me

I still miss you now 

Goddamn, I miss you now

It's so impossible to face, when all that’s left behind is nothing but a name

Kennedy states both songs are open letters to his father. The lyrics and delivery in these tunes testify.  Sorrow and anger are evident in both, and at times it's almost too painful to hear.

 

From Dark to Light

The first ten tracks of Year of the Tiger are dark. There is a frantic nature to the tunes, portraying energy, struggle, and despair. Track eleven, “Love Can Only Heal” is the natural progression from a place of pain to a place of hope. Kennedy croons in his lower register, as he does in most of the CD, and it's nothing short of glorious. The last two songs continue down the path of light. In “Songbird,” Myles declares his legacy will be different than his father’s. "One Fine Day” sees him looking to a future when this pain subsides.

 

Year of the Tiger is a huge departure from the Myles Kennedy music his fans have come to expect, but illustrates that his brilliance transcends any medium. Kennedy plays banjo, lap steel, bass, and mandolin as well as guitar. He wrote every song on acoustic or resonator guitar and then dropped them straight to tape. Try as I might to be objective, the heart and soul of this project seeped in and found cracks in my armor. With sincere intention, Myles created something honest that speaks to the pain of his past and his hope for the future. It is with great vulnerability he shares this part of his life with a different tone and mood. Never has a cover art been more apropos. Year of the Tiger is Myles Kennedy, stripped down and coming out of the darkness.