photo courtesy of BJF Media

Album Review of Rick Pierce Group: Brick By Brick (Golden Robot Records)

Brick By Brick is the debut album of the Rick Pierce Group. The band is comprised of guitarist Rick Pierce (guitar), Chris James (vocals), Izzy Rehaume (bass), and Frankie Rongo (drums). Brick By Brick was produced by Floyd Rose, notable in part because Pierce and Rose were two of the co-founding members of Seattle rock supergroup Q5 in 1983.

Brick By Brick is a hard rock album, heavy enough to be dubbed metal in some circles, likely to be able to keep up with similarly-style classic hard rocking bands like Judas Priest. From the very beginning of the very first song, the rock guitars are impressive, and you can identify the songs’ tunefulness, and James’ voice is melodically capable but with a slightly rough edge ideal for this brand of classic heavy rock. A couple songs stand out, but so many of the hooks are subtle. It takes a few listens to unlock some of them. If you love an album that starts strong and grows on you more and more with each listen, Brick By Brick is an album you’ll dig.

Album-opener “Tick Tock” kicks off with a thumping beat and aggressive guitar riffs, but James’ intense but expressive voice and the finesse in Pierce’s axework (including an occasionally recurring guitar riff that niftily soars and circles back on itself and serves as one of this song’s hooks) broaden the appeal of “Tick Tock” to all guitar rock fans. This is true of just about every song on Brick by Brick to varying degrees. In fact, the very next song, title track “Brick By Brick,” deploys a similar tactic.

image courtesy of BJF Media

Most of the songs can be described similarly as guitar driven heavy rock songs, with guitar riffs either subtle or more apparent that serve as unique hooks from song to song, occasionally varied hard rock/classic metal rhythms, and melodic heavy rock vocals. The songs are differentiated by vocal or guitar nuances, so you’ll have your own favorites, but they’re stylistically very cohesive.

In addition to “Tick Tock,” my other personal favorites on Brick by Brick are songs that add nuances to the style that appeal to my particular musical taste. For example, “Only” varies the formula slightly, with opening riffs that at least slightly bring to mind “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and a memorably heavy, tuneful “ohh, ohh, ohh” – deeply sung and very metal but still varied enough from what you’d typically hear in heavy rock songs that it’s attention grabbing.

“Remember the Bataclan,” meanwhile, takes a slower, more steady pace than most of the other tracks, plodding forward at a pace that fits in well with the hypnotic, rhythmic chant – unique to this song – that’s the sort of thing you might expect from a hard rock band. The closest I can think of is the chanting in Savatage’s “Morphine Child,” but on this song it’s more rhythmic and tuneful and follows along with the song’s rhythmic drum beat. It’s just – to repeat myself – hypnotic.

“Can You Feel It” is a pretty straight-ahead classic hard rocker but with some attention-grabbing guitar flourishes. “Love Hate” is a more plodding, rhythm-driven heavy rocker with the vocal abruptness used when singing the title lyrics, “love, hate,” intentionally obtrusive to drive home the song’s point; plus, it has a neat little 15-second run of blistering axework about two-thirds of the way through the song that serves as a bridge.

Album-ender “A Storm Is Coming” adding a slight blues-rock tint to the band’s power-rock formula. The guitarwork and drums work together to build an ominous musical backdrop for James’ vocals, which have an almost Southern rock-blues edge to them that matches the supporting music. The song is also an ideal album-ending song because it ends with nearly two minutes of drum-supporting guitarwork sans vocals, and that’s always a cool way to end a guitar-driven rock album, particularly when it offers a showcase for an axeman like Pierce.

Brick by Brick is an album all classic rock and classic metal fans should spin a few times. Whether you’re listening for the exceptional guitarwork, the power rock vocals, or the heavy rock vibe in general, you’ll enjoy this record. And as the hooks begin to dig into your brain, you’ll develop a couple of clear favorite songs – for me, they’d be “Tick Tock” and “Only,” and sometimes “Remember the Bataclan.” (Depending upon my mood, I’m either more or less psyched about the chanting.)

One of the better ways to keep up with the Rick Pierce Group’s latest news appears to be via the band’s Facebook page.