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ALEX WILLIAMS : WAGING PEACE
- No Reservations
- Old Before My Time
- Rock Bottom
- Fire
- Higher Road
- Waging Peace
- Conspiracy
- The Best Thing
- Double Nickel
- Confession
- The Struggle
- The Vice
Label : Lightning Rod Records
Release Date : October 21, 2022
Length : 49:09
Review (Written In Music) : Als de gitaartandem het openingsnummer No Reservations op gang trekt dwalen de gedachten meteen af naar Lynurd Skynyrd met een identieke rockende ondertoon brengt Alex Williams zijn statement dat in een onmiskenbaar naar de outlaw country lonkende soundtrack. Bovendien vertoont het bariton timbre sterke gelijkenissen met Waylon Jennings en Cash. In het zog van generatiegenoten zoals Chris Stapleton en Sturgill Simpson komt Williams nu vijf jaar na het debuut Better Than Myself aanzetten met een tweede langspeler. Waging Peace leunt ook thematisch sterk aan bij het oeuvre van illustere countrylui, de nimmer aflatende strijd tussen goed en kwaad loopt als een rode draad doorheen de verhalen vanuit het oogpunt van een muzikant veroordeeld tot een eeuwig leven on the road. Of die verhalen nu voorbij razen door striemend snarenwerk van Williams en Noah Thomasson aangedreven rockers met echo’s van Allman Brothers,Lynyrd Skynyrd of de picking van Jerry Reed. De snarenvreter kunnen op ondersteuning van Ryan Fox en Coty Leftingwell rekenen. Er zijn gereputeerde gastmuzikanten zoals toetsenman Gordon Mote, Dan Dugmore op pedal steel en Mickey Raphael, de harmonicaman van Willie Nelson zat mee aan de schrijftafel en dat leverde The Best Thing op een country slijper, die dicht in de buurt van George Jones komt, het melancholische The Struggle gaat meer in de richting van Nelson. “One hand on the wheel one foot in the grave”, zingt Williams in Old Before My Time zelfs in zo’n lichtvoetige two-stepper met uitgeknauwde twang duikt die realistische visie op. Enkele songs werden met hulp van Mando Saenz gecomponeerd en ook countryman Tennessee Jet duikt op in de songcredits. Sleutelnummer en titeltrack Waging Peace verwijst naar de ogenschijnlijk onomkeerbare gebeurtenissen die de wereld treffen, galmende gitaren ondersteunen Williams’ woorden die tijdens de pandemie opwelden en een optimistische visie weerspiegelen met ruimte voor een uitweg en hoop op wereldvrede. Als de pedalsteel erbij komt in The Vice levert dat prachtige momenten op in combinatie met oplopende gitaarlijnen in de sterke afsluiter van een met onvervalste outlawcountry gevulde langspeler.
Review (Americana UK) : After succumbing to the temptations of the “rockstar” lifestyle following the release of his debut album in 2017, Alex Williams returns, having laid down his weapons of self-destruction. His mission is to find peace. Having grown professionally and personally in the intervening years, Williams admits “before I made my first record, I had not toured. I had no road band and a very slim amount of experience in the studio. I’m very glad I waited 5 years to make another record because it’s given me time to really find my voice as a songwriter, experience life on the road and all the pain and joy that has come my way in more ways than one”. ‘Waging Peace‘ is an autobiographical collection of 12 songs throughout which Williams shares a previously unseen side of his life and his personal battle between good and evil. The title track was chosen “because it seemed like the centerpiece for this whole project as far as the subject matter goes”. Opening with the first single to be released from the album, ‘No Reservations‘, is electric guitar-driven with flavours of Dire Straits in which Williams sets out with attitude playing, as depicted in the accompanying video, to a gang of bikers. By contrast, the very countrified ‘Old Before My Time‘ is a pacey hoedown featuring awesome instrumental parts. ‘Rock Bottom‘ slows the pace with its introspective lines: “Well I don’t know why the darkest roads are the easy ones to follow, Came so close to Rock Bottom but my rock’s always been you“. Together with an extended and compelling outro, this is a lovely song. ‘Fire‘ is a great rock song. ‘Higher Road‘ is perhaps a telling account of the path of self-destruction Williams once walked, with an acceptance of where he has been and how far he has come. The powerful sound of the title track, ‘Waging Peace‘ continues Williams’ journey to serenity with the poignant and somewhat timeless lyric: “If I could start a war by only waging peace, I’d load my gun with all the love that any man would need“. Both ‘Conspiracy‘ and ‘The Best Thing‘ are very much in the country vein. Whilst ‘Double Nickel‘ and ‘Confession‘ both showcase the country-rock wordsmith in Williams. ‘The Struggle‘ can be summed up by the line: “cause ain’t it all about the struggle that makes it worth it when it’s done” – surely a further indication of Williams’ new-found self-awareness. The album closes out with a slow-burning, further introspective in ‘The Vice‘. Produced by Ben Fowler with Williams on vocals, and electric and acoustic guitars, the album also features Noah Thomasson on lead guitar, Ryan Fox on bass guitar, and Coty Leffingwell on drums. These core players are more than ably joined by a host of additional musicians and harmony vocalists, all contributing to this somewhat old-school, comfortably-fitting, album.
Review (Saving Country Music) : The sounds and the words of country music are not enough in themselves to evoke the magic that only the best of country music can deliver. You want to know that the character cawing into the mic is speaking straight from their own heart and experiences, bearing their soul, even if what they’re singing was originally composed by someone else. That’s the authenticity that makes country music unique, and why the best of country music is so difficult to attain. Alex Williams released a rookie album in 2017 called Better Than Myself via Big Machine Records—the same label as Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Taylor Swift, and the like. It was far from pop country though. It was Big Machine hedging bets against country music’s burgeoning roots resurgence. All the ingredients were there for it to be an auspicious premier for Alex Williams. The instincts of Alex were pure. His voice was perfect for country. The sounds of true country music in an Outlaw characteristic were all there. Williams had all the right country music heroes in the Outlaws of yesteryear, and guys like Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan in the present tense to look up to and learn from. But many of the songs just lacked a level of meaning, and not only because some of them felt derivative and trite—almost like elements of popular country garbed in a more Outlaw style. Having never toured before recording the album, the cart got put before the horse. The songs hadn’t been lived yet. And despite its positive moments and warm reception by some, the debut album was never going to be the ideal specimen from Alex Williams. There’s a reason Williams waited five years before releasing his second record. Now a seasoned journeyman who’s paid his dues on the road and tacked some skins on the wall, Williams was ready to write, sing, and perform with the kind of conviction you need to sell your songs to the audience. The new album Waging Peace is at times very specifically about being a touring musician. At other times it’s about still being relatively young, but feeling old. Overall, it’s a seasoned and sensational specimen of Outlaw-style country music rendered in the modern context. Alex Williams and producer Ben Fowler explore the full breadth of the Outlaw country influence on this album, from the waltz-timed Willie Nelson modes of songcraft complete with Mickey Raphael harmonica drifting in between the verses, to the the half time beat of Waylon Jennings with the moan of the steel guitar underpinning it all, to songs that rightly qualify just as much as rock as they do country, Waging Peace is a job well done in revitalizing 70s era country in new original songs. Alex Williams is able to put some real world wisdom behind the words of a song like “Old Before My Time,” where he acknowledges there’s so much left to learn, even if a bleary-eyed weariness has already began to overtake him. Same goes for the solo-written “The Struggle,” where he rightly concludes that it’s the getting there where the real value is found, not in the end reward. Williams also calls upon a few key co-writers to flesh some good song ideas into great ones—guys like Mando Saenz, Tennessee Jet, and Ben Jarrell. Along with a great album cover—which is a lost art these days—Waging Peace is also graced by leaving the instrumental tails on many of these songs. Such a great set of players was assembled for this record, why not let them play past the radio edit like they do favorably on “Rock Bottom,” “Higher Road,” and how it’s the piano that takes you out on the well-written final song, “The Vice.” “An old soul sleeping in a young man’s skin, made him want to live like the legends did,” Williams sings. “He couldn’t care less about the getting there, until he found a place to go without a’ going anywhere…” Art illustrating life is always better than the other way around. You hear the voice of Alex Williams, and you immediately recognize that he was born to sing country music. But to sing it right, you first have to live it. Not only does Waging Peace accomplish this, Williams also has the presence to man up to that realization, and impart that wisdom through this album as well.