Cactus - Tightrope

Cactus
Tightrope
(Cleopatra)
By Decibel Report
9/10

Tastefully armed with music as alluringly spiky as their name implies, Cactus follow their 2016 Black Dawn album with a juiced-up heady cocktail of hard rock songs replete with subtle and respectful nods to a fine palette of masterful musical influences. Thumping a backbeat to solidly lock the bolt in the spine of the band-and listener-where Carmine Appice notably bangs Jimmy Kunes hollers in the style of top-grade 1970s cocksure frontmen.

Possibly their modern masterpiece originated from studio jams, this outstanding record lifts off with a salvo of Led Zep inspired riffs inflating the title track Tightrope. This sets the tone on this release of superior hard rock numbers, with a splash of bluesy excellence, particularly exemplified on Poison In Paradise.

A courageous and killer cover of The Temptations’ Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone drills nine-inch nails of sonic bliss into the ears and, in doing so, part reinvents this legendary tale of errant ramblers and gamblers into a stonewall rock banger.

Not constraining themselves to a mono-style approach, the melodic rock tropes on All Shook Up snarls out of the speakers like a fired-up Space X rocket rumbling on a launchpad. Then Third Time Gone blasts through the ozone and trips around the sun powered by uplifting rhythms that would make the Black Crowes shed a feather or three, especially as that man Kunes’ controlled throaty rock voice channels a Steve Marriott level of performance.

Shake That Thing backs this up with a depth charge kick drum and deep bass line by James Caputo alloyed with Paul Warren’s crawling guitar licks that would mightily impress a sack full of snakes with its venomous attack. Continuing a tight knuckle of songs, there's no let-up in the quality as, bringing a touch of panache with menaces, Preaching Woman Blues muscles in with its heavy fuzzed-up memory of when hard-hitting blues-rock bands tested the underpinning of venues up and down the land. Without a breather, Elevation delivers a bone-shaking gut punch with a sonic blow by blow exhibition of hitting the target hard.

No talent heavy band, angling to construct a classic rock album, which aims to stand the test of time, is complete without attempting to compose an epic track to display their combined musical intelligence. And Suite 1 & 2 Everlong, The Madmen fulfils this test with its well-chosen languid précis further revealing an accomplished chiaroscuro of orchestral movements; melding darkly with triumphant rock guitar and vocal excess in all the right areas.

The appositely titled and adroitly melodious closing track Wear It Out, is more than an instruction detail to any self-respecting aficionado of top-draw deftly played heavy music to immediately press play/repeat. This slab of hard rock demonstrates the total combined energy expended by this wily band of skilled musicians in bringing together a definitive milestone release.

All in all, in the calibre of their composition and execution, these dozen succulent songs go head-to-head with the much-garlanded Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Vanilla Fudge bands of yore. With stellar cameos by original guitarist Jim McCarty and alumni bassist Pete Bremy, Cactus walks a musical tightrope with no little swagger and exceptional grace on this magnificent recording.