Jim Peterik And World Stage – Christopher Thelen

Jim Peterik is a name which might not be the most familiar to
some people – though his body of work is legendary. If you’ve ever
bobbed your head along to “Vehicle” from The Ides Of March,
fantasized about being Rocky Balboa while listening to “Eye Of The
Tiger” or enjoyed an album from Survivor, you’re familiar with
Peterik, both as a musician and as a songwriter.

Jim Peterik And World Stage serves as a method for Peterik
to jam with friends he’s made throughout the years as well as serve
as a “best-of” package, with some new material thrown in for good
measure. All in all, it’s a pleasant little album, though at times
one wishes that Peterik had left the classics alone.

Let’s get the complaints out of the way first. “Vehicle,”
featuring Buddy Guy on guitar, is altered to fit the bluesman’s
style of playing – and while it’s Peterik’s song and he can do
whatever he pleases with it, he is tampering with a rock legend
(albeit one which isn’t as heralded as it deserves to be).
Likewise, “Eye Of The Tiger” has a key change, and it just doesn’t
have the same kind of magic as the original did. Then again, maybe
I shouldn’t be surprised by this; it’s hard enough to capture the
magic once, let alone twice.

Peterik proves that he still has the knack to write a killer
song, evidenced on tracks like “Fade To Blue” (performed with Don
Barnes of 38 Special – I still like the version on
Live At Sturgis better), “Antenna” (with CCM star Margaret
Becker) and “‘Till It Shines” (featuring Henry Paul of Blackhawk).
Peterik’s voice might show some road scars at times, but it only
adds to the character of these songs.

Ironically it’s the songs that move away from the rock world
that have the most punch. “We Wish” (with David Carl and Jeff
Boyle) sounds like it could have been written as a theme song for
any of a number of groups which preach tolerance, while “Long Road
Home” (with Night Ranger’s Kelly Keagy) has all the markings of
being a hit, despite the fact the song is now a decade old. When a
song sounds so fresh that the ink is still wet, that’s the mark of
a good song.

Not everything works this well on
Jim Peterik And World Stage. “Zig Zag” all but hides the
contribution of Cinderella’s Tom Kiefer, while Rick Nielsen and Bun
E. Carlos from Cheap Trick don’t stand out with their efforts.
Likewise, Dennis DeYoung’s talents don’t seem to match “To Miss
Somebody” as well as Peterik might have hoped, and the performance
suffers.

Maybe it’s the constant parade of guest musicians and vocalists
that eventually weaken this disc; had Peterik stuck with a select
few, a level of stability could have been achieved. Still, there
are moments on
Jim Peterik And World Stage that will leave no doubt why
Peterik is considered one of the best songwriters out there.