Donnie Vie
The White Album
Cargo Records
2014
One of the bands that I hardly ever “got” or got into, was Enuff Z’Nuff. These guys did form in the mid-80s but didn’t come into some prominence until later in the game, very much later, when they signed to Atlantic and that was a time when “hair metal” was starting to slowly go into a state of disarray. The fact that a band like them, would get signed, was “the writing on the wall” that things were shifting away from the musical side of things and towards the “image”.
Donnie Vie, the band’s original vocalist, did sing on the original 3 albums, then rejoined, in 2008? then left as late as last year, but has been contributing all through these years to the bands releases, while Chip (the bassist) has also been singing – from what I remember… while Donnie is busying himself with a solo career ever since... let’s face it, even if this “White Album” is not “terrible” from a songwriting standpoint – if simplistic rock ‘n roll inspired mainly acoustic driven (and slightly Americana tinged) jams are your thing where the electricity isn’t overflowing, Donnie was never a “great” singer. He might have had charisma, or whatever else that made him able to “sell” himself and his band, but his vocals are hardly his strongest point, reedy as it is... on the other hand he's not talentless, far from it, but it’s an acquired taste… some people like Bob Dylan – and he’s not a great singer… so, you get the idea…
I must say on this album, I enjoyed the songs very much, (apart maybe from a couple of them – since it’s some 18 tracks spread over two CDs) but I kept thinking to myself, OMG, if only someone else was singing those… I mean, at times Vie manages to make Tom Petty sound like bloody Pavarotti which must be quite an achievement (no disrespect to TP or to the late LP) it’s a real shame actually, as a lot of these songs are actually pretty good... “I Wanna Do It to You”, “Handy Dandy”, “My Love”, “Haunted”, “Unforsaken” this is actually a pretty good album, but the singing… some of it will take a lot of spins to sink in… and there’s actually not much one can do for that. People that actually like Vie’s style and this laid back, Beatlesque psychedelic atmosphere, might enjoy this album way more. There’s even a take on Lennon’s “Imagine” as well as a live cover of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” (Live) Ha! “Imagine that”!
Donnie Vie, the band’s original vocalist, did sing on the original 3 albums, then rejoined, in 2008? then left as late as last year, but has been contributing all through these years to the bands releases, while Chip (the bassist) has also been singing – from what I remember… while Donnie is busying himself with a solo career ever since... let’s face it, even if this “White Album” is not “terrible” from a songwriting standpoint – if simplistic rock ‘n roll inspired mainly acoustic driven (and slightly Americana tinged) jams are your thing where the electricity isn’t overflowing, Donnie was never a “great” singer. He might have had charisma, or whatever else that made him able to “sell” himself and his band, but his vocals are hardly his strongest point, reedy as it is... on the other hand he's not talentless, far from it, but it’s an acquired taste… some people like Bob Dylan – and he’s not a great singer… so, you get the idea…
I must say on this album, I enjoyed the songs very much, (apart maybe from a couple of them – since it’s some 18 tracks spread over two CDs) but I kept thinking to myself, OMG, if only someone else was singing those… I mean, at times Vie manages to make Tom Petty sound like bloody Pavarotti which must be quite an achievement (no disrespect to TP or to the late LP) it’s a real shame actually, as a lot of these songs are actually pretty good... “I Wanna Do It to You”, “Handy Dandy”, “My Love”, “Haunted”, “Unforsaken” this is actually a pretty good album, but the singing… some of it will take a lot of spins to sink in… and there’s actually not much one can do for that. People that actually like Vie’s style and this laid back, Beatlesque psychedelic atmosphere, might enjoy this album way more. There’s even a take on Lennon’s “Imagine” as well as a live cover of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” (Live) Ha! “Imagine that”!