Search - Shortino, Northrup :: Back on Track

They make a great team

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 05/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the demise of overlooked 80's rock/metal act Rough Cutt, vocalist Paul Shortino hooked up with ex-King Kobra guitar hotshot J.K. Northrup for the 1994 collaboration Back on Track, a blistering collection of melodic hard rock that was already irrelevant by the time it was released (thanks a lot, Nirvana!).



Irrelevant or not, Back on Track is a totally rocking album with Shortino's always-impressive soulful vocals and some blazing guitar heroics courtesy of Northrup, who never lets his soloing overshadow the song. Besides, I'd rather see these L.A. rockers stay true to their kind of music and be ignored than try and go grunge (and still be ignored).



Back on Track is a strong melodic hard rock album from start to finish. Fans of Rough Cutt, King Kobra, Hurricane, Talisman, and old school melodic hard rock in general should love what Shortino and Northrup put together here.



NOTE: Back on Track was reissued in 2004. The reissue featured new cover artwork, digitally remastered sound, and four new studio bonus tracks. Given how hard the original CD was to find, the 10th anniversary reissue is a smart buy."