ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 11, 2012
By Steve Newton
Deep Purple fans saddened by the cancer death of keyboardist Jon Lord last month have something to look forward to, as a 40th-anniversary tribute to the group’s biggest album, Machine Head, is scheduled for release this September.
On Re-Machined, some of the world’s loudest bands will be covering songs from the album, which–along with Led Zeppelin’s Volume 4and Black Sabbath’s Paranoid–is seen as a landmark in the hard-rock and metal realms.
You’ve got your Iron Maiden doing “Space Truckin'”, your Metallica doing “When a Blind Man Cries”, and your Chickenfoot doing “Highway Star”. But what really caught Newt’s eye was news that American blues-guitar ace Joe Bonamassa was teaming up with Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes for a rendition of the swingin’, R&B-flavoured “Lazy”.
Barnes isn’t well known in North America, but anyone who listened to Australian rock in the late ’70s and early ’80s is aware that he’s godlike in status. His band out of Adelaide, Cold Chisel, has had nine albums in the Aussie top 10. His powerful, maxed-out singing style was no doubt hugely influential to AC/DC howler Brian Johnson.
Here’s a little taste of what I’m talkin’ about. Check out Bonamassa’s nod of recognition when Barnes lets loose with that Ian Gillan-approved scream.