To be clear: this has very little to do with blues, except that singer Wensday is inspired by black singing, like everyone, kinda stereotype. Moreover this is AOR, produced in typical American fashion until in every corner of the spectre there’s a piano, a saxophone, a violin, a soaring guitar or some sultry backing vocals, tastefully just not overdone. All very predictable, like a Hollywood movie. This might sound a little depreciatory, but if you take this for granted, the good points emerge. Singer-songwriter Wensday has a great voice, clear as a bell and with fine technical ability. It makes ‘Torch Rock’ a pleasant listening journey. ‘Torch Rock’ actually is her debute, but you can hear she’s quite experienced. She sang for many years and would probably have been the eternal amateur in Providence…if the bosses of Luck Media hadn’t heard her there quite accidentally and dragged her to Phoenix. Dick Wagner was appointed producer, yeah, the same Wagner who wrought havoc with Steve Hunter on ‘Rock ’n Roll Animal’ by Lou Reed (remember the awesome introduction to ‘Sweet Jane’!) Wagner who co-wrote ‘Only Women Bleed’ with Alice Cooper. There’s a truely great version of that on Torch Rock, and this classic in fact neatly matches the main theme of this record, which extolls the attitude of the liberated woman towards all kind of male violence, especially of the domestic type. She’s a strong woman determined not to be subdued (again), but at the same time she wants to be a real woman. The two extremes (extremes that actually go together well) can be heard at the beginning: ‘Arizona Man’ can take his lasso with him back home if he is not prepared to go all the way for her, but there’s also the complete surrender of the woman in love: ‘After You’ there is none. It goes on just as groovy with ‘The Rise And Fall Of Love’ and ‘Heartbreak Saloon’. After ‘Only Women Bleed’ the level of the songs tends to go up and down, although the variety is pleasing: ‘Skye’ is a truely fine requited tune and ‘Predatory Gentlemen’ has a nice choir and fine trumpet interventions, for instance. Wagner has a writing hand in all the songs, sometimes Wensday co-wrote them. The list of guest musicians is impressive. We even find Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band. But except for the message you don’t miss any trail-blazing.
