Soul Sirkus was a little side project put together by
Journey guitarist Neil Schon and Van Halen drummer Michael Anthony and
former mouthpiece Sammy Hagar. When Van Halen was reformed last year
and Hagar returned to the fold, Schon soldiered on with the side group to record
a CD. The vocal duties were taken over by solo artist Jeff Scott Soto, and the
rhythm section included former Thin Lizzy bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer
Virgil Donati (of 90s Australian band On the Virg).
World Play is an old-fashioned hard-rock record
that Schon no longer always gets to indulge in Journey. The first
single, "New Position" takes the style and seals it -- blistering guitars,
tight drumming, screeching vocals and a molten hook. The band also
rocks out nobly with "Highest Ground" and "My Sanctuary." It does slow
down sometimes; there are the occasional gunslinger rock ballads like "Soul
Goes On."
For air-guitar jams, Schon really pulls out the stops
in the previously mentioned "My Sanctuary" and the girl-watching jam
"Praise." The band also gets down and dirty with the killer riff of
"Peephole."
World Play was released at about the same time
as his recent all-instrumental solo album i on u, and together they
make a good companion-piece. (Ed note:
see our review on that CD also on the record reviews page.)
It's nice to see that Schon is keeping busy during the increasingly long
patches between recording for his day job.
