Richard Kendrick- Murder & the F Word (Street Date: January 29, 2002)- is best described as a cross between Dream Theatre, White Snake, and Queensryche, wherein the material is a multi-layered mix of concept-driven hard rock and melodic but dizzying symphony. Versailles Records Music Supervisor Richard Kendrick has built a solid reputation as a solo artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist over the past five years, appearing on nationally released compilations including "Fire Woman: A Tribute to the CULT", "Lords of Karma: A Tribute to Vai/Satriani", "American Hair Bands Vol. 1", "Best of Both Worlds: A Tribute to Van Halen's David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar", and "The Second Coming: A Millennium Tribute", in the process performing backing music, and producing material for current and former members of Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, Ozzy Osbourne Band, Smashing Pumpkins, Badlands, Dokken, Salty Dog, LA Guns, Dangerous Toys, Rough Cutt, Queensryche, Lynch Mob, TNT, Night Ranger, Faith No More, Tuff, Ratt, Love Hate, Kansas, Quiet Riot, and Kix. More recently, Kendrick has collaborated with a number of multi-platinum & Grammy Winning pop voices, including TIFFANY, Grammy winner DENIECE WILLIAMS, Phil Spector protege and 60s R&B icon DARLENE LOVE, canadian pop diva ALANNAH MYLES and blues guitar great JEFF HEALEY, urban R&B diva MICHEL'LE, as well as Olympic Medalist NANCY KERRIGAN in the making of Versailles Records' forthcoming release "What's Love: A Tribute to Tina Turner", due in stores everywhere in the summer of 2004!
Track Listing:
1. I Know Why
2. One Life Stand
3. Don’t Fly Away
4. Start Again
5. Sherri’s Song
6. Share This Tender Moment
7. Don’t Touch
8. Questions and Prayers
9. Now I’m Alive
10. Losing My Place
11. The Pieces
12. How Many Times
13. Freedumb
14. The Flood
15. Laughing Myself Goodbye
16. Reprisal
17. The Attitude Song
http://www.richardkendrick.com -- E-mail Richard
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Critical Acclaim:
"We have a new guitar hero, and his name is Richard Kendrick!" - Antimusic.com
"If you are a fan of Melody and Harmony, (Murder & the F Word) is a must for your collection...it's creative, artistic and very well-done. This oughta give the critics something to TRY and chew on." - Rock and a Hard Place
"For recording this piece of work...I salute you, Richard Kendrick!" - Rocknet.nl
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Reviews:
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Rock and a Hard Place-
RICHARD KENDRICK - "Murder And The F-Word"
Versailles Records
Richard Kendrick could have made your basic Melodic Hard Rock album here.
He has all the elements, the powerful voice, fantastic guitar licks, and an
amazing sense of melody. Yes, he COULD have put together a bunch of cliche'
songs talking about love and heartbreak. INSTEAD he took a different route,
he went the conceptual route. Oh, I can hear you moaning out there, that's
usually my reaction too. However, we have to give this a chance, it's a new
direction for Melodic Hard Rock, and let's face it, this genre isn't exactly
tearing up the charts.
So Kendrick takes a chance here with "Murder And The F-Word". He
puts together some solid tracks of progressive Rock that take you on a journey
of emotions. I couldn't put my finger on the sound until I read some of his
influences were Queen and TNT, then I started to put things together. This
is not nearly as Epic as the bands I just mentioned, but it has the precision
of Ronnie Le Tekro and some of the tones of Brian May. I can't really compare
his voice to Mercury or Harnell however. He's not trying to shatter glass
in most cases.
I will be the FIRST to admit I was hoping for some strait-up Rockers on here,
like I mentioned, he has all the elements to put together a KILLER AOR record.
But there HAS to be albums like this, it give Melodic Rock a new look and
a new life. It's harder for critics to bash it and unfairly call it 80's Rock.
It bleeds over into the Progressive genre, and God knows Melodic Rock and
Progressive Bands need to pull together. This is NOT Dream Theater nor is
it Journey, but both sides can appreciate end enjoy this project. If you look
at it in another light, this could be a movie soundtrack of sorts and it takes
you from one story to the next.
There's a ton of music on "Murder..." as well. There's 17 tracks
listed with about a fourth of them being instrumental and shorter tracks that
tie the songs together. Some of the tracks that stood out to me were "Share
This Tender Moment" which is anything but a ballad, in fact it's most
likely the opposite. "Start Again" has a "Pop" flavor
to it with some great melody, piano and an interesting structure. "Now
I'm Alive" is one of the more modern cuts, it's fairly dark and menacing.
It reminds me a lot of Lillian Axe actually. "Freedumb" is one of
the better rocker's on the album, which actually sounds a bit like Winger...
yes, I said Winger, those of you who have a problem with that bite me!
When it comes down to it, this album is done extremely well. The production
is good, although I wanted a more "real" drums sound and the guitars
turned up a bit. If you are a fan of Melody and Harmony, this is a must for
your collection, there's a lot to listen to, and you'll hear something different
every time you listen. This album is good for the genre, no, there's no songs
that'll be taking over radio, but one thing cannot be denied, it's creative,
artistic and very well-done. This oughta give the critics something to TRY
and chew on.
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QUINTESSENCE METAL WEBZINE
Richard Kendrick (U.S.)- "Murder and the F Word"
(2002 Versailles Records)
I was a bit leary on ths guy at first since he contributed to many tribute
compilations on a national release level but that never seems to get my vote
on the musicians in general since "cover" song compilations are
a dime-a-dozen like us writers doing reviews. This CD is original material
and damn! if I wasn't floored from the start; it's not even instumental either!
Critics called this a cross between Whitesnake, Queensryche and Dream Theater.
Sorry dudes, I think you're way off base and listened to something other than
Richard Kendrick; I guaranteee you I can throw you one better. Perhaps Mr.Big,
Damn Yankees, King's X and Night Ranger? with a huge Brian May influence?
I stress this point emphatically simply because of the harmonized vocals and
the music period. Guitar-wise, we can throw in Nugent and Randy Rhoads also
with May (May's a huge one and "Don't Fly Away" is just one example).
Richard already mentioned of not venturing full-time in the
vocal department but his voice is very good and crosses the lines of Jack
Blades and Don Henley. An absolutely pleasing CD with everything you could
want as far as heavy rhythms, "balls-out" guitar soloing and very
catchy and original licks. One for the collection and an attribute to the
guitar-oriented Rock/Metal fan.
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GuitarMania.ca
Richard Kendrick - "Murder and the F Word"
Richard Kendrick strikes out on his own with "Murder and the F Word". Don't let the title fool you; this is a CD of varied influences with great guitar chops and suburb vocals. Bands like Queen, TNT, Night Ranger and Dream Theatre come to mind when cranking this CD for the first time. The guitar work is very melodic with injections of over the top excursions into the unknown. Just listen to Kendrick's cover version of Steve Vai's - "The Attitude Song" and you will see what I mean. Every track contains some very ambitious guitar work with emphasis being placed on the M (melody) word. Kendrick down plays his own vocal abilities in the liner notes, but damn the boy can sing. I have not heard vocal harmonies like these since Bohemian Rhapsody - can you say multi layered!!
The CD is divided into 5 sections - loosely based on a conceptual theme throughout. All of the songs stand up on there own and put forth a great hard rock feel. Obviously Richard is making a nod of respect to the blazing 80's on most tracks. Kendrick's originality is showcased throughout the CD. He is very masterful at combining the campy vibes of hard rock with some amazing progressive passages - a cool combination that draws the listener in, you never know what is coming next!
Kendrick is an all around musician with a high degree of finely tuned skills. Musicians, musician with compositional, guitar and vocal chops to die for. Murder and the F Word is a first rate solo effort - I predict we are going to hear much more from this versatile musical force.
Check out the cool interview with Richard Kendrick on the
Guitar Mania Web Site:
http://www.guitarmania.ca
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Murder & the F Word Review- Rocknet.nl
Recently, Versailles Records submitted two new releases. One being their excellent Vai / Satriani tribute album 'Lords Of Karma' and the other being this debut album by Richard Kendrick.
Other than being released on the same label, the link between the two would be Mr. Kendrick himself, who does a great version of Vai's 'The Attitude Song' on that very tribute album. On this one it's featured as a bonus track. ;)
Now I suppose some of you have heard this man's name before. I myself must admit it didn't ring any bells. The bio sheet included states that Kendrick has backed up quite a few solified stars in the studio, amongst which names like Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, TNT, Night Ranger, Lynch Mob, Tuff, Ratt and loads more.
So the guy knows what he's doing. Duh!!! I didn't need that list to tell me this. A couple of spins of 'Murder And The F-word' would have told me quick enough ;)
The album is labeled a 'concept' album. Now don't run off screaming, I have found that the concept is very thin, and Mr. Kendrick even admits to that in the (way cool) liner notes. The album is roughly divided in 4 or 5 chapters, but the songs are just as good singled out, as in their 'context'.
So, what to expect from a backing musician? Well, he gracefully admits to being influenced by 'B-movies, Horror / Science Fiction novels and Big Overproduced Hard Rock'. And that just about sums up what you'll find on this record. Lots of familiar riffs, and traditional song structures you're probably no stranger to.
But listen up: there's more than this to the dude. Since I haven't found no list of players in the booklet, I assume he has done all playing and programming himself. If this is true, I can but applaude his skills. Especially the guitars sound great, and his vocal capacities are nowhere near as horrible as he fears (read the liners...)
Though not overall powerfull, and often drowned in background vocals, Kendrick has a pleasant voice, that sometimes has a Paul Stanley-ish quality to it.
Traditional twin guitar work is really fun when it's done like this. Not pretentious, or in a show-off manner, but well-woven into the songs. The (At least *partly* programmed) drums sound somewhat dry.
Richard Kendrick makes a lot of fun of himself, but really takes what he does serious enough to give you this amazing album that will touch many a heart that has beaten through the great rock era of the 80's.
So for recording this piece of work and dedicating it to Queen at that....
I salute you, Richard Kendrick!
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Antimusic.com
Richard Kendrick: Murder and the F Word- Rating 4 Stars out of 5
Sick of waiting for a new Van Halen album? You can get the next best thing, the debut release from Richard Kendrick which sports some cool Van Halen’esq hard rockin tunes. You get it all: the guitar mastery; the vocal punch of Sammy meets Dave meets Ian Gillian, the rip-roaring melodies, rich harmonies and count ‘em 17 tracks. Ok, I’m not saying Kendrick is aping Van Halen just that the music fits the same mold, then again there are elements of Rainbow and Deep Purple here as well.
My only previous exposure to Kendrick was his contribution
to “Fire Women – A Tribute to the Cult”. Now we get a taste
of Richard’s own music and it’s equally impressive. If you’re
an adherent to 80’s style guitar based hard rock then this is the CD
for you. “Murder and the F Word” features some strong songwriting
and excellent musicianship. We have a new guitar hero and his name is Richard
Kendrick
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Classic Rock Revisited- Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0
Richard Kendrick: Murder & the F Word
Richard Kendrick has been involved around the fringes of classic hard rock for years. He has performed in bands that have opened for nearly everyone. Versailles Records has given the guitarist the opportunity to step out on his own with the release of his first solo CD.
Murder & The F Word is a concept album that attempts to match the great overproduced pomp rock albums of the 1970's. Kendrick adds more modern guitar sounds hinting at influences as diverse as Slash and Brian May. In fact, the album is dedicated to the band Queen and by the music on F Word, he must be taking the influence all the way back to the days of Queen II.
This album comes very, very close to representing what I believe the artist hears in his head yet it does not quite fall in the same league that he was shooting for. Two of the strongest tracks are "One Life Stand" and "Don't Fly Away." In these two tracks Kendrick finds the perfect mix of raw emotion and musical fortitude. Unfortunately, the end result leaves the listener a bit confused trying to find the concept behind the concept album.
Some ideas are fragmented and not easily understood. Kendrick does come through with his intended result several time such as the epic "The Flood" and "How Many Times." In the liner notes Kendrick states that he loves "big overproduced hard rock" yet it is the production end that fails to meet up with other big overproduced hard rock gems. Perhaps the artist should have brought in an outside producer to collaborate with instead of trying to do everything himself. For instance, in the song "Fiancée", the opening classical piece does not transition with the same effect and smoothness as say early Queen does. The dynamics are not hitting the same listener responses that are needed to pull off such a grandiose undertaking.
All that said, Murder & The F Word is a good album. Kendrick
is on the right track. His music holds the seeds of originality and musical
talent necessary to achieve the lofty goals he has his eyes upon. Classic
Rock Revisited looks very forward to following his career and is hopeful that
the next one will hit the bull's-eye. If you are looking for a unique, disturbing,
thought provoking and strange CD then look no further.
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Strutter Magazine.com
MURDER AND THE F-WORD-RICHARD KENDRICK (VERSAILLES RECORDS)
Out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana comes RICHARD KENDRICK, a multi-instrumentalist
who is also playing in the band STRAITJACKET SMILE, and worked on 3 tribute
CDs on VERSAILLES RECORDS, so I think this he's quite a busy guy. In between
all the other projects, he recorded this solo-CD 'Murder and the F-word',
a concept-album that contains all kinds of hard rock styles, but mainly is
focused on high quality melodic rock stuff. There are 17 tracks, of which
the last couple of tracks are not that interesting, but the first 7 songs
are really impressive. The production is very good and I also have to admit
that Richard's lead vocals are very melodic and a pleasure to listen to. Opener
"I know why" is not a good start though, as this is an average uptempo
boogie rocker a la DAVID LEE ROTH. Much better is the big sounding midtempo
progressive AOR/Melodic rocker "One life stand", a song with some
lovely harmonies. "Don't fly away" starts with some JOURNEY type
of piano-keys, while the song itself develops into a great melodic rockballad.
The CD continues with the progressive melodic rocker "Start again".
There is some great 'Pomp' orientated keyboardplay on this song, and some
biting groovy guitarwork, but the chorus lacks a bit, nevertheless, it's an
enjoyable 6 1/2 minutes counting tune. Up next is one of the best tracks,
the fantastic classy late 80s orientated fun uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker "Sherri's
song" that easily can be compared to the best stuff DANGER DANGER and
FIREHOUSE put out on their debut albums. This last mentioned song has some
lovely melodic guitarwork and also has a playing time of more than 6 minutes.
The uptempo melodic heavy rocker "Share this tender moment" follows,
but is just a nice tune, with some SKID ROW influences, although I also noticed
some slight progressive metal influences. Then comes "Don't touch",
a great progressive melodic rocker with many good harmonyvocals, and actually
this song shows an own direction of Richard that isn't easy to compare, but
remains to sound melodic all throughout the song. From track 9 on, which is
the terrible industrial 90s inspired "Now I'm alive", the CD goes
has many average songs to offer and has barely something to do with the glorious
melodic rock of the first 7 songs on the CD. The instrumentals "Losing
my place", "The pieces" and "Reprisal" as well as
the groovy modern metal songs "Freedumb" and "The attitude
song" and the boogie rocker "Laughin' myself goodbye" all have
nothing interesting to offer for fans of melodic or progressive rock/metal.
That's a pity, because the beginning of the CD was very impressive, with great
high quality melodic songs like "One life stand", "Don't fly
away", "Sherri's song" and "Don't touch". I hope
a future solo record of Richard will follow that direction, instead of the
average material of the second part of his debut solo-CD. Anyway, hopefully
soon reviews of his 3 tributes and his band STRAITJACKET SMILE's CD release
(which is said to be a great melodic rockalbum).
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
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Nikammusic Productions
Richard Kendrick-"Murder & the F Word"
Versailles Records VE20007
The advert for this album by multi-instrumentalist ( and
voiced) Richard Kendrick was intriguing enough, promising a cross between
Queensryche, Dream Theatre, and Whitesnake( huh!), but the reality is rather
different.
Plenty of theatre, and think Queen and Queen plus, with a little extra intent
in the guitar department, a nod and a wink at Noel Coward camp, and something
special seems to be a brewing..oh and a bit of Queen. Opener ' I know why'
with Kendrick crossing, despite his protestations in the liner notes at his
vocal talent, the Nelson twins with a soucpcon of Tommy Shaw, and some of
the most ambitious harmonies this side of 'A Night at the Opera' or The Sweet
jamming with Caballe. Clearly, a man who cannot face a harmony without adding
just one more..and then...dare he...another one.
'One Life stand' rolls in atop a De Garmo gone May riff; Kansas meets Freddie
vocal arrangements, and a Leppard-esque segueway into a guitar/keyboard interplay;
whilst 'Don't Fly Away' is best viewed as 'My
melancholy blues' with a touch of Journey's yearning, and a certain spare
elegance; and 'Star again' is Rychian guitar flurries, a Roxy Music verse,
and a certain gilded wit, detailing how "nice guys finish last apparently".
There's so much in this album, with a thread,a concept twisting through proceedings,
it's almost pointless trying to encapsulate the vision and ambition in a few
words: other than to suggests that the waltz and wit of 'Don' touch' sort
of snapshots the whole. Not a multi-million dollar production but a solid
one, and if you like Queen, and all those suspects who have paid even a passing
homage-and you know who they are-then all is left to do is, in the man's own
words, 'strike up the band baby'.
Andrew paul
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Skylight E-Zine (http://www.geocities.com/skylightgr/heavymetal.htm)
RICHARD KENDRICK - Murder And The F-Word (Versailles Records)
Richard is a guitarist and he has backed up at studio many current and former
members of Ozzy , Guns'n'Roses , Kansas , Ratt , Dokken,etc. This is his first
solo album and he expresses the inspiration that drove him to record this
album. It reminds me classic hard rock in the style of Night Ranger , Dokken
,Whitesnake and of course the guitar playing is great ! Richard is an interesting
axeman with a good voice (he also sings in the album) but in terms of composition
, needs more time to create something different .
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Tartarean Desire (http://embark.to/tartareandesire)
Richard Kendrick - Murder And The F-Word
Versailles Records, 2002
"Throughout the 90's the American
multi-instrumentalist Richard Kendrick has performed with bands like Dark
August, Straitjacket Smile, and Mudbone who have opened up for world famous
artists Lizzy Borden and Pantera. After having recorded
several tracks for different tribute discs he has now finished the work on
his first solo album for Versailles Records. I am not sure whether I like
this album or not - some songs are as foolish as the title of the album while
others totally rocks and shows the talent that this man is in possession of.
Versailles Records are trying to keep the metal and hard rock from the 80's
alive and so is Richard Kendrick, sometimes very nicely but other times it
sounds pretty boring and sleazy. He has a very (and I do mean very!) good
hard rock voice but sometimes the songs remind me of the worst moments of
Whitesnake. There are some great tracks though and it is just about heavy
enough to be enjoyable. I would still only recommended this album to hardcore
fans of 80's glam metal and hard rock." (6/10)
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SLAM! Party Rock'zine
http://www.slamrock.f2s.com
RICHARD KENDRICK
"Murder And The F-Word"
Versailles Records - 2002
**** 8 ****
Truly Bravo this chitarrista American who after is made boneses playing with
Dark August and Straittjacket Smile and opening for famous groups much like
Culprit Speedwagon, Babylon TO, Cheap Trick, Cinderella, Firehouse , etc...
is hour to the taken ones with the own solista career. The bio of presentation
it introduces Kendrick like a crossing between DREAM THEATER , WHITESNAKE
and QUEENSRYCHE , but to my judgment first they only seem to influence the
sound of the CD that opens with mid the time of "the Know Why" in
which they make capolino the EXTREME , instead "Start Again" could
be a fantastic one connubio between the band of JAMES LABRIE and SANTANA .
"Share This Tender Moment" has brought back me to the mind the solista
job of GEORGE LYNCH , while "Laughin' Myself Goodbye" is a fast
one heavy rock on the style of the STREAM or the VANDAL . The job introduces
diciasette traces very and between several intro and pieces it orchestrates
them, we find also the cover of STEVE YOU GO "The Attitude Song"
to close the rich album that are sure will please all more the lovers of the
class metal searched and than virtuosismi. Memory that Kendrick has recently
participated to the CD I pay of CULT and VAI/SATRIANI always prints to you
from the Versailles Records. www.rickardkendrick.com
www.versaillesrecords.com
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