The album opens with "Riot". After some nice synths, and some cool fretless bass, the main riff comes in. Sykes is certainly not a delicate player, and the main riff is very muscular. Not a huge fan of the keyboard and rubbery bass sound, but Sykes sounds great, vocally and in terms of guitar playing. Also, Carmine Appice (yes, Vinny's brother) sounds great on the kit, and any fan of hard rock should be familiar with his very heavy-handed drumming, a perfect fit for Sykes' often screeching guitars. A good song, but slightly dated sounded in 2013 given the cheesy synths. "Sex Child" is the most "hair metal" song on the album. I honestly don't like the song, the bass sound of Tony Franklin is one of the main points of contention, very jazzy and out of place on a sleazy rock song like this, almost like wearing track-pants in a Bentley. Also, there are far too many digital effects on the vocals, and the lame synth strings sound bad, even for 1989 standards. Add that to pretty laughable lyrics, and this one is a dud.
"Valley of the Kings" is probably the most remembered song on the album. I actually like the synthesizer introduction here, it gives an epic feeling to the song. Carmine Appice sounds great as well, very driving on a very steady beat. The mythical lyrics are far more interesting than the previous song, and Tony Franklin also sounds quite good, adopting a more rocky tone for this tune. Very Zeppelin-like, it instantly reminds of Kashmir, with its middle-eastern influenced progressions. A tasty solo completes a very good song. "Jelly Roll" is an attempt at blues, certainly influenced by Led Zeppelin III. Over a bluesy acoustic, Sykes sings about the "evil woman" blues archetype. Some electrics feature in the song, but its mostly acoustic until the second section/solo. But before the solo, the song warps into a 1980s power ballad, complete with strings and effect-covered guitars, somewhat unexpected given the first half of the song, a patch-work song to say the least, but it somehow works. A decent song, but I left feeling as if I had just distinctly heard two separate songs.
The title track comes next. "Blue Murder". The closest link to Sykes' time in Thin Lizzy, the song would have not sounded totally out of place on Thunder and Lightning, the last Thin Lizzy studio album. The vocals are pretty cools, Sykes almost "rapping", spitting out lyrics rather quickly, rushing to get his syllables in, just like Phil Lynott often did. The guitars are great on this track, easily proving why Sykes is considered one of the greatest hard rock/metal guitarist of all times. Tony Franklin also delivers very nice bass work, and it is easy to see why you can find his credits all over rock albums by countless artists. Add some of best rock drumming you have ever heard, and you have a great song. "Out of Love" brings us firmly into the late 1980s. A fairly sappy power ballad, I've always enjoyed Sykes at higher tempos.However, the song is pretty deep and emotional, and I can only guess based on a real break-up. Vocally, it is the strongest song for Sykes on the album, but just not really my thing, especially from hard rock super-group.
"Billy" is loaded with synths, a little too much for me. But once the introduction subsides, a nasty riff kicks in and redeems the song. Syke's machine-gun riffing works nicely in this song, it adds a punch and aggression that balance against the poppy keyboards. The song seems to be about a kid from the "wrong side of the tracks", a common theme in Sykes' song-writing. Catchy chorus, smoking guitars, and a song about lawlessness, what else could a rock and roller ask for? Next is "Ptolemy". After a short introduction sampling what appears to be a bazaar, Sykes comes in with a hugely powerful middle-eastern style riff, very interesting and bold. Another tale of crime and the under-world, I enjoy Sykes' seedy tales of the dark underbelly of cities, obviously an affinity shared by Phil Lynott and Sykes. Franklin's bass is again a little too jazzy for me on this song, especially given the insanely fast metallic soloing of Sykes. The chorus of the song doesn't come in until near the end of the song, a structural strange choice for a song, but Sykes has never really one to follow conventions of standard songwriting. I enjoyed the song, especially the very groove-orientated riff.
Lastly, we have "Black-Hearted Woman". Another song about the rock and roll/blues "evil woman" character, Sykes again angrily tells of a terribly evil woman who ripped out his heart. The riff is stellar, and the chorus is extremely awesome, with Sykes reaching the upper limits of his mid-range voice. The guitars are the real highlight of the track, with Sykes even resurrecting his "tapping" from the Lizzy days. Great song.
"Blue Murder" has a couple of mediocre song, but the album is overall quite good. I would recommend this album to fans of 1980s metal and rock, and especially anyone who has enjoyed the work of John Sykes in any capacity.
Rating-7.5/10
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