The older you get, the more you start to appreciate music that is based on the roots of everything that turned into Hardrock and Heavy Metal in the years to follow. THE DEAD DAISIES is one of those bands that I most certainly would have ignored when all I listened to just had to be heavier, faster and more brutal. They started out in Australia back in 2012, and founder / guitarist David Lowy is the only remaining member today. The rest of the band’s current line-up consists of vocalist John Corabi (THE SCREAM, UNION, MÖTLEY CRÜE), guitarist Doug Aldrich (BAD MOON RISING, DIO, HURRICANE, LION, REVOLUTION SAINTS, WHITESNAKE), bass player Michael Devin (WHITESNAKE) and drummer Tommy Clufetos (BLACK SABBATH / OZZY OSBOURNE). So, as you can see, we’re talking about a bunch of highly respected musicians here. But instead of coming up with music that would mainly appeal to other musicians because it is technically top-notch, these guys decided to write totally basic, straight-ahead, kick-ass Hardrock with a strong influence from the big names of the ’70s. Think of the raw early AEROSMITH (before they became an MTV favorite), BAD COMPANY, UFO, the Bon Scott era of AC/DC (‘I’m Gonna Ride’), some BLACK SABBATH (‘Rise Up’, ‘Dead And Gone’, ‘Bustle And Flow’) and a little bit of Blues mixed in for good measure. “Live Plus Five” is their second live album. It was recorded at last year’s Stonedead Festival in the UK, which THE DEAD DAISIES headlined, and features their full performance of fourteen tracks. Among them, you will also find no less than five cover songs that they successfully turned into their own, so that you probably won’t recognize them if you aren’t familiar with the originals. The list of bands they chose should already give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here: ‘Take A Long Line’ (THE ANGELS), ‘Going Down’ (THE ALABAMA STATE TROUPERS), ‘Fortunate Son’ (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL), ‘Midnight Moses’ (THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND) and ‘Helter Skelter’ (THE BEATLES). I already liked John Corabi’s voice when he was still a member of THE SCREAM and still consider the self-titled MÖTLEY CRÜE album to be one of their best, since it was so raw and heavy (‘Smoke The Sky’, anyone?). But he fits THE DEAD DAISIES even more and is just a perfect and very cool frontman. He interacts with the audience whenever necessary, and his raw voice has probably never sounded better. The rest of the band delivers a solid performance with no focus on any one particular member. Here you have a band that acts as a very strong unit and, because of that, often recalls the classic live albums of the ’70s (even with a short drum solo at the end of ‘Bustle And Flow’). The sound quality on “Live Plus Five” is great, only the audience could have been a bit louder in the mix. But I suppose it’s a soundboard recording, so it’s fine with me. The five additional songs on disc 2 were recorded at shows across Europe and the US, and among them you’ll find two more cover songs. The first one, ‘Black Betty’, was written and recorded by various musicians since 1933 already, but to most of you it is probably better known in the 1977 version by New York based Hardrockers RAM JAM. The other one is GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS’ ‘Get A Haircut’, which features THE DEAD DAISIES guitarist David Lowy on lead vocals. So, all in all, this is a highly recommended release for any open-minded Rock fan who still appreciates the time before this music was commercialized by the industry. “Live Plus 5” is available as a limited 2 CD digipak and 2 LP gatefold in purple vinyl. www.facebook.com/thedeaddaisies, www.facebook.com/steamhammer