Snowy White & The White Flames - The Situation (2019)

01. The Situation 5:06
02. This Feeling 3:18
03. L.A. Skip 6:50
04. Can't Seem to Do Much About It 5:11
05. Crazy Situation Blues 3:58
06. Blues in My Reflection 4:30
07. Why Do I Still Have the Blues? 8:35
08. You Can't Take It with You 2:22
09. Migration 6:44
10. The Lying Game 4:26
11. Hard Blues 4:32
12. I Can't Imagie 4:46

Guitar [Guitars], Vocals, Bass, Synth [String Synth] – Snowy White
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Bass – Kuma Harada (1,5,7,8,10,11)
Bass – Walter Latupeirissa (3,4,6,9)
Drums, Percussion – Richard Bailey (1,3,710)
Drums, Congas, Percussion – Juan van Emmerloot (2,4,6,7,9,12)
Drums – Jeff Allen (5,8,11)
Keyboards [Keys] – Jessica Lauren (1,3,10)
Keyboards [Keys] – John Rabbit Bundrick (5,7)
Organ, Piano – Ferry Langendrijk (2,6,9,12)
Piano – Max Middleton (3,11)
Percussion, Shaker – Thomas White (1,7,12)

In the past (especially the end of the 70’s and beginning of the 80’s) there wasn’t hard to see a musician gathering a set of famous invited guests to play on an album with them. Today, it’s not so usual to see such a thing, but from time to time, one of these albums appears. And “The Situation”, the latest album of SNOWY WHITE AND THE WHITE FLAMES is one of them.

To explain a bit, Snowy White is a British guitarist who played on THIN LIZZY from 1980 to 1982, and his name is linked to bands as PINK FLOYD, ROGER WATERS & THE BLEEDING HEART BAND, and actually plays on the band of Roger Waters. And what could the listeners expect of his album? Well, it’s an eclectic Classic Rock album, because it bears elements from Folk Rock, Blues, Jazz Rock, and even some touches of Latin musical genres. Although such musical format was used many times in the past, in his hands the things flow in a lovely and great way, indeed, with songs of excellent taste.

The sound quality of “The Situation” is excellent, being clean and worried to make everything sound with the right instrumental tunes (the percussive touches on “L. A. Skip” is extremely clear). Yes, it’s a great work with excellent results. The album doesn’t sound aggressive, and it won’t remind of something that he did in his past bands, because it’s not Snowy’s musical focus. But on songs “The Situation” with its Blues/Noir ambiance and excellent chorus, the eclectic feeling of “L. A. Skip” (the Reggae elements can be heard on the percussion and clean guitars), the introspective Jazz/Blues essence of “Can’t Seem To Do Much About It”, the sad Blues introspection of “Crazy Situation Blues”, the party Blues Rock with very good bass guitar and drums presence of “You Can’t Take It With You”, and the classical Blues presented on “Hard Blues” are the best songs of the album.

To hear “The Situation” is a very good experience for anyone. ---"Metal Mark" Garcia, metal-temple.com

The name Snowy White may be familiar to some, even those with just a little musical knowledge will probably remember he was famed for having a UK Top Ten hit, ‘Bird Of Paradise’ back in the early 1980’s. To most rockers he will be better known for his stint at guitarist in Thin Lizzy where he featured and co-wrote on both the Chinatown and Renegade albums. True fans will also be aware that he was Pink Floyd’s backing guitarist during their European and U.S tours back in 1977, then again on The Wall tour in 1980. Not to mention his friendship and musical collaborations with the likes of Peter Green and Jim Capaldi amongst many others. But most importantly he is a highly respected solo artist who has always remained true to his own homemade, organic musical style, which is first and foremost blues orientated.

This new album The Situation is no exception, and after several albums with The White Flames, this is the follow-up to his 2017 offering “Reunited”. Speaking of The Situation, Snowy says “These songs are my expression of where I was in 2018… Up and down, good and bad, weak and strong, it’s all here… Just doing my thing as usual, enjoying playing with all my musician friends”. These highs and lows are poignantly captured in this wonderful collection of ambient, atmospheric songs. Setting the framework, the first track, also dubbed ‘The Situation‘, is a funk laden, bass heavy opener interspersed with Spanish guitar and a heavy hook.The gentle meandering of ‘This Feeling‘ has the genius ability to make you consider your very own emotions at this exact point in time.

The beat steps up a notch for ‘LA Skip‘ and you’re transported to Venice Beach at sunset with a pina colada or three, soaking up the vibe while enjoying the eclectic entertainment. A nonchalant mood ensues with ‘Can’t Seem To Do Much About It‘, in which I feel Roger Waters’ influence can be distinctly heard – the lyrics state “no birds in the sky, no fish in the sea, seems like that’s really how it’s gonna be” – a frustrating realisation that something needs to be done to change the way we treat the planet but feeling helpless in being able to do so. We then experience a drop in emotion as ‘Crazy Situation Blues‘ kicks in, reminding me that this guy has evidently collaborated with Gary Moore on occasion. From whatever heartache Snowy was experiencing in the previous track, still in keeping with a chunky blues section, ‘The Blues In My Reflection‘ brings a more positive outlook, with a glimmer of hope that love still exists in its many different forms.

The darkest part of the album then comes with ‘Why Do I Still Have The Blues?‘ which has some sublime guitar work, a deeply emotive moment to which you can only go upwards from and true to word, ‘You Can’t Take It With You‘ is an upbeat jolly jaunt of carefree blues about making the most of what you do have. The instrumental ‘Migration‘ is my favourite piece on the album, somewhat Santana-esque, taking you on a journey through smooth jazz grooves and South American beats that you can easily become totally immersed in. A complete change in tempo then comes with ‘The Lying Game‘, with an intoxicatingly mellow riff and exceptional guitar solo, the spirits are lifted sky high again. Coming back to what Snowy does best with the self explanatory track Hard Blues, the album then seems to come full circle, completing with ‘I Can’t Imagine‘, a song that leaves both you and Snowy questioning what comes next, both musically and in life’s complex situations. This album is perfectly constructed for a philosophical cruise through the many moods of blues. ---Caroline Blood, myglobalmind.com

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