Published on Jan 2, 2001
Paul Shortino is probably a familiar name to anyone who grew up
on a steady diet of metal in the mid-’80s. First coming to the
spotlight as the lead vocalist of Rough Cutt, he soon became known
as Kevin Dubrow’s replacement in Quiet Riot, taking over as the
band appeared to be on its last legs.
Since then, Shortino has re-teamed with Rough Cutt, and has made
a name for himself as a solo artist.
Stand Or Fall, his 1999 release, illustrates that Shortino
is someone who deserves to be given the chance to succeed or fail
on his own terms, though his greatest success comes when he sings
not metal, but the blues.
The album’s title track is pure evidence of this, as Shortino
outdoes Gary Moore for pure soul as he sings a variation of the
12-bar blues. Combined with his backing band, the Rhythm Junkies
(whose membership is so varied it would take most of this review to
list them all), Shortino plows through this, as well as a cover of
Willie Dixon’s “Same Thing” and makes these tracks believable.
This isn’t to say that Shortino can’t or shouldn’t sing his own
variation of hard rock. Tracks like “Take Me Into The Fire,” “I
Know You Want Me” and “Honesty” all carry with them a power that
Shortino has demonstrated on and off for the past 15 years. It
might not be the kind of oomph that would carry someone to
superstardom, but it’s respectable enough that listeners should sit
up and take notice.
If only
Stand Or Fall could carry that momentum throughout the
album. It’s not that tracks such as “Devil In My Heart” and “You
Can’t Lose” are bad; they’re just somewhat formulatic – and if
anyone would want to move away from sounding like they’re following
a formula, it would be someone like Shortino who survived the hard
rock/metal meltdown of the late ’80s/early ’90s.
The closing track, “Broke n’ Busted,” seems to capture Shortino
at his essence: a singer with the heart of a bluesman and the vocal
grit of someone who’s been slugging it out in the minor leagues for
far too long. It’s a nice touch, and quite fitting to end the album
on.
Stand Or Fall might not break Shortino back into the common
ground of hard rock fans today, but down the road, when he does
make that glorious comeback (and I don’t doubt he’ll do it), people
will come back to this album and take note of it, flaws and all…
and wonder why they didn’t notice Shortino back then.