COZY POWELL
Sometimes
words are so little to describe a legend. What can I write about Cozy
Powell, one of the best drummers ever appeared on this planet, that
hasn't been mentioned? I'll try with a little retrospect and a few
personal feelings. Cozy has been always characterized by his
heavy-hitting style and the way he could make songs from various styles
sound "full". Especially when he co-operated with heavy bands,
his performance resembled a mixture of a road-roller and a track full of
rubble crashing onto a wall. The list of bands and artists that Cozy
co-operated with during his career is immense: Rainbow, Black Sabbath,
Emerson Lake and Powell, Whitesnake, Cinderella, MSG, Jeff Beck, Peter
Green, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Gary Moore, Robert Plant are only
some of the names. Cozy has been always in demand for the drum seat, so
he evolved to one of the most important session musicians. He never
stayed in one band for very long, which proved to be good for us, as we
could enjoy him in many projects. On the side of his involvement in many
groups and project he released seven solo albums (we present one of them
underneath). Thank
you Cozy. R.I.P.
How
can one present one of the best releases in heavy music (and not only)
ever??? Rainbow's second album is what can be characterized as a pure
monument, and if there is one single fan of heavy music that doesn't own
this record he/she'd better start knitting!! When listening to this
album I praise that Ritchie abandoned Deep Purple. Here Ritchie along
with Cozy, Ronnie James Dio, Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey (Martin Birtch as
producer) released an album of what can be called epic rock. Suggestive
songs, long because of Ritchie's solos, lyrical, with fantasy lyrics
transfer us to an ancient world of mystery and imagination...to
"run with the wolf". Cozy's play is majestic giving a massive
sound to the songs. And of course we will always remember with a grin of
embarrassment his introduction in "Stargazer". I really feel
so little to say anything else about this masterpiece...
This
is Cozy's second personal album, and I think the best one he produced
under his name. As mentioned before, the music here has little (or
nothing) to do with heavy metal. The musicians here produce an amalgam
of jazz/rock/AOR of top class. And when we are talking about musicians,
we talk about a gathering of huge stars: All drums are, of course,
played by Cozy. On the bass we meet: Chris Glen, Neil Murray and Jack
Bruce. On the keyboards: John Cook and Don Airey. On the vocals: Elmer
Gantry and Frank Aiello, and on the guitars (hold on): Kirby, Bernie
Marsden, Jeff Beck and Gary Moore! I personally feel that all those
musicians in one project wouldn't produce anything bad even if they
wanted to! The first side of the vinyl has four experimental jazz/rock
songs, embellished with saxophone and things. The second side consists
of four instrumental - a bit heavier - songs, where the rhythm section
lays down a magnificent canvas for the talented guitarists to paint. The
amazing songs and the participation of so many famous musicians makes
"Tilt" a wonderful record, and invites you to try and find it
(I don't think that it has ever been released in CD and it is very
difficult to find the LP these days.).
This
is another super-project, formed in 1985 producing only this single
record. And what an album this is!!! I feel sorry cause I feel that it
has never gained the reputation it deserved. Just have a look at the
musicians playing here: Mel Powel and Mel Galley (guitars), Glenn Hughes
and Neil Murray (bass), Don Airey and Richard Bailey (keyboards), Peter
Green (vocals) and Cozy Powell and Ted McKenna (drums). The music those
talented musicians produce here is hard rock/AOR of the mid-80's. I know
that some of you might think that AOR (especially of the mid-80's) was a
crap. So I suggest you to look for this album and give it a try. High
quality tracks of lyrical rock, that has nothing to do with the usual
clichés of the genre, rather presenting complete songs with
well-structured foundations and amazing performances.
Ok, some might take me for sacrilegious, but I think that "Headless Cross" is among the 5-6 best works of the band. And I am sure that Cozy has a lot to do with it. After a time of experiments and disappointments, Tony Iommi made the magic moves: rehired Tony Martin on vocals and invited Cozy Powell on the drums. The result?? Amazing! With Cozy's solid way of playing the band regained it's massive sound, Martin was maybe the best choice for the epic-style songs, as his voice has this amazing epic tone, while Geoff Nichols' keyboards, although discreet, add depth to the songs. Really heavy, majestic material with Iommi being inspired again to produce some great riffs that the rest of the band "dressed" in the best possible way. Songs like the title track, "Devil & Daughter", "Kill in the Spirit World" are eternal jewelers on Sabbath's crown. I also have to add here that the record presents a significant variety among its tracks. Sometimes I wish I had more ears to listen to it. by Alex Savatianos |