More info: http://www.joshsappletree.com/
Verdict (Rating): Shades of Purple (73%)
Josh's Appletree are a bunch of Swedes (Jugge, John, PH, Hawkan & Lasse) who got together to jam, write a few songs and have fun in May 2003. After some positive feedback the band have taken things a step further and recorded this CD.
The blast of Hammond at the start of opener "Garish Gas" sends a very clear signal of where the band are coming from. In fact, the music has similarities to the style of music Hawkan played when he was a member of Mouth Of Clay. And who do you associate a Hammond with? Deep Purple! The band seem to really enjoy paying homage to Purple. A few other old fashioned rockers get thrown into the mix ocassionally - Whitesnake & Led Zep on "Tracks Of The Blues", Sabbath on "The Hard Road", Hendrix on "Plain n Foxy" and Rainbow on "Hangman" (touches of "Man on the Silver Mountain") - although even on these songs you're never in any real doubt who the real influence is.
Just before the halfway point the band seem to step up a gear with "Charismatic Woman" which features some nice organ tones, the early Whitesnake like "Rock n' Roll Star" (JA's version of Highway Star?) and the mixture of Purple and Bon Jovi's Dead Or Alive that is "Tomestone Rider". They then hit a high spot again on album closer "Devil's Machine" with some nice guitar/Hammond interaction.
The band have created a pretty decent classic 70's style rock album, which pays homage to Purple. There are a few other elements in the mix, but I would like to have heard JA creating more other their own sound. However, bearing in mind that the band started out as a 'fun thing', then this is recreation instead of innovation.
