Dennis Dunaway Project
Bones from the Yard

(Deedledoop)

First Appeared in The Music Box, January 2007, Volume 14, #1

Written by Matt Parish

There's no doubt that Dennis Dunaway knows how to write a hit record. As a member of Alice Cooper’s phenomenally successful outfit from the 1970s, Dunaway had a hand in penning some of the most iconic material ever recorded. Songs such as I’m Eighteen, School’s Out, Elected, and Under My Wheels didn't just permeate the airwaves, they also conquered the minds of adolescent fans around the globe. The group’s message of rebellion was as strong as its music, and the fact that these tunes remain in the current rotations of classic rock stations is a testament to their legendary status. Yet, Dunaway also had a dark side that he showcased on some of Cooper’s more scandalous tracks, such as Black Juju, Dead Babies, and Killer. The stage show for these selections helped to fuel the band’s unprecedented, stratospheric rise to fame and fortune.

On his solo debut Bones from the Yard, Dunaway, once again, is conjuring his unique compositional style, and he brings it menacingly into the present. The result undeniably is one of 2006’s best and most thought-out endeavors. Aided by the brilliant musicianship of Rick Tedesco (vocals and guitars), Ed Burns (vocals and keyboards), and drummer Russ Wilson, who lends the songs power with his staccato bulldozing, these songs assume a majestic forcefulness that is all their own. Kandahar fuses Cream’s Tales of Brave Ulysses and Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, while Man is a Beast focuses on the current (and rather dismal) state of affairs by addressing a world that, in Dunaway's eyes, not only refuses to learn from its past but also seems hellbent on destroying itself. Needle in the Red, with its first-to-fourth-gear propulsion, sounds like a lost track from Sammy Hagar’s days with Montrose, and the lyric "Waitin’ for the moment where this freeway meets the sky/Out the other side/White lines in my head/Destiny misled" ranks among the better lines ever written for driving down the open road.

Elsewhere, On the Mountain dives into cocaine addiction, and its power chord-driven message mirrors the intensity of the drug’s hold over its victims. Little Kid (with a Big, Big Gun) is one of the ingratiating songs to be penned in ages, and Ian Hunter lends a hand (or two) on piano to the Jerry Lee Lewis-inspired track. With Joe Bouchard on cowbell, Hunter on piano, and the great musicianship of Burns, Wilson, and Tedesco, what more could anyone want?

Playing closer to his base, Dunaway gives Stalker a very Alice Cooper-esque feel, and its spoken-word accompaniment makes the song a close cousin to Killer. Satan’s Sister and Red Room showcase how menacing he can be, and both tunes are a trip. Satan’s Sister intertwines its locomotive rhythm with a Stones-y groove, and Red Room sounds like Ray Davies, if he had overdosed on Viagra. It paints a picture of a lusty, "cat and mouse" relationship — complete with a "moaning Lisa" lurking in the background — and it was inspired by an actual incident that Dunaway experienced in Nogales, Mexico’s red light district when he was 17.

Nevertheless, not everything on Bones from the Yard exudes an air of doom and gloom. Tracks like Me and My Boys, New Generation, and Subway reflect Dunaway’s enthusiastic commitment to his art. In fact, New Generation is an anthem that could be the next great song of newfound, adolescent independence, and Subway pays a street-smart yet endearing tribute to a romantic way of commuting through a city. It begins and ends beautifully as the haunting melody of I’m in the Mood for Love, which passionately is played on a saxophone by Michael Tedesco, Rick’s father.

Bones from the Yard concludes with the epic Home Sweet Home, a song that originally was meant to be the finale to an Alice Cooper effort. Said Dunaway, "When we recorded this song, I thought about actually throwing in a kitchen sink."

Indeed, there is more to Home Sweet Home than initially meets the eye, and it provides the perfect conclusion to Bones from the Yard, a record that improves immensely with age. As usual, there are voices hidden within the tracks, and Dunaway also placed an array of darkened sounds beneath the surface of the mix. They don't make the album sound scary, though — just frighteningly good. ½

Bones from the Yard is NOT available from
Amazon.com, Amazon-CA, or Amazon-UK. To order,
please visit Dennis Dunaway's Site!

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2007 The Music Box