Review: Dave Hole: "Steel on Steel" (Alligator).

After two decades of obscurity in the show-biz black hole of Western Australia, singer-guitarist Dave Hole finally released his first U.S. album, "Short Fuse Blues," in '92. He made his first U.S. tour in the fall of '93 and has now released his third album here, "Steel on Steel." The title refers to Hole's trump card, his fast, flashy, steel-cylinder-on-steel-strings slide work. Over the course of his three albums, Hole's blues-rock sound has shifted its emphasis from blues to rock, and "Steel on Steel" clearly stresses the instrumental pyrotechnics of such guitar heroes as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey over the emotional drama of such pickers as Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal.

Recorded in Perth, Australia, with Hole's longtime road band, "Steel on Steel" contains plenty of showy licks. "Take Me to Chicago," for example, contains a full catalogue of Elmore James riffs, and the first radio single, "Quicksand," builds to Cream-like solos. Hole, who wrote 12 of the 13 cuts, is a competent bar-band singer and songwriter, but his distinguishing trademark is his ability to play melodic slide phrases with lots of embellishments over galloping rhythms. More and more, that trick has become the whole show.

He was born on 30 March 1948, Heswall, Cheshire, England. Dave Hole's family moved to Perth, Western Australia when Dave was four years old. The music of the Rolling Stones inspired him to pick up the guitar, and through them he discovered Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He had been playing for some 10 years before he took up slide guitar. A broken little finger caused him to play over the fretboard with the slide on his index finger, an unconventional method also adopted by Stan Webb. With various musicians, Hole led bands for some 20 years, playing the �booze barns� around the Western Territory. A self-produced cassette which he sold at gigs found its way to Europe and America, where a Guitar Player article resulted in a deal with Alligator. The same album, SHORT FUSE BLUES, prompted Gary Moore to add Hole to his 1992 European tour. Like many of his American counterparts, Hole is happy to play rousing, bar-band blues rock that is best heard live but which is still entertaining on the albums that have followed.

The band formed in 1969, when drummer Andy Parker joined Phil Mogg (b. 1951, London, England; vocals), Pete Way (bass) and Mick Bolton (guitar) in Hocus Pocus. With a name change to UFO and a musical style that fused progressive space-rock and good-time boogie, they released three albums that were successful only in Germany and Japan. In 1974 Bolton quit, to be replaced by Larry Wallis (ex-Pink Fairies), followed by Bernie Marsden (later of Whitesnake) and finally Michael Schenker. Securing a deal with Chrysalis Records, they recorded PHENOMENON, a stunning hard rock album that featured the all-time heavy metal classics "Rock Bottom" and "Doctor, Doctor." Schenker's presence helped to forge their new sound, as he strangled the hard-edged metallic riffs out of his trusty Flying V. A series of excellent albums followed, and the band expanded to a five-piece in 1976, with the addition of a keyboardist, initially Danny Peyronel (ex-Heavy Metal Kids) and later Paul Raymond (formerly of Savoy Brown). LIGHTS OUT and STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT consolidated the band's success, the latter a superb double live album recorded on their sell-out US tour of 1977. After long-running internal disagreements, Schenker quit in 1978 to rejoin the Scorpions and later form MSG. Paul Chapman (ex-Lone Star) was offered the guitarist's vacancy, having played with the band for short periods on two previous occasions. From this point on, the band never recaptured the level of success and recognition they had attained with Schenker. A string of uninspiring albums followed, that lacked both aggression and killer riffs. Paul Raymond joined MSG in 1980, with Neil Carter (ex-Wild Horses) taking his place. Pete Way split after the release of MECHANIX, eventually forming Waysted and ex-Eddie And The Hot Rods/The Damned bassist Paul Gray took over his position.

MAKING CONTACT represented the nadir of the band's creativity, being dated and devoid of the old energy. A farewell UK tour was undertaken in 1983, but it was a sad end for what was originally a fine band. Two years later Mogg resurrected the name with Raymond and Gray, plus ex-Magnum drummer Jim Simpson and the Japanese guitarist Atomic Tommy M. They recorded MISDEMEANOR, which unsuccessfully attempted to rekindle the old flame, with up-front guitars and hard-line melodies. Success eluded them and they disbanded again. In 1991, UFO were re-born once more. This time the line-up featured the nucleus of Mogg and Way, plus guitarist Lawrence Archer (ex-Grand Slam) and drummer Clive Edwards (ex-Wild Horses). They have tried to recapture the halcyon days of 1974-78, with HIGH STAKES & DANGEROUS MEN, but only time will tell, if they have the songs and ability to compete with the current market leaders in this field.