Welcome to the EvO:R Independent CD Reviews Section.
I would like to take a few minutes to introduce ourselves to everyone. The EvO:R review section features reviews from various independent musicians that submit material for our consideration.

I wanted to let you know a little about our review teams collective thoughts on music. It's important to let the people that we review know how we think of their music and how we listened to their creations.

First of all, we strongly believe that if your music stinks then the world should know about it! After all, you have the nerve to charge as much for your stuff as the majors do so it better be pretty damn good. If your material is good, we'll be glad to tell the world. I We will hold nothing back! That is a promise.
The EvO:R CD Review Team

I received this disc from Hawaii back in April. I have been meaning to review it for quite some time but a family crisis put this and all other reviews on the back burner. I have two other reviews to get to that were casualties of the same situation. So I will need to get to those as well before digging deeper into this crate of discs.

When I received this disc, I got a note from guitarist, Porter Miller stating that he had read some of my reviews and that the reviews made him want to go out and buy the discs that I was reviewing. Of course, I have to like the disc for it to receive such a review. Lucky for Mr. Miller, I have listened to Big Rock Stampede over and over again.

Elephant is the product of several former band mates being dismayed at the lack of quality rock in the 50th State and starting a band to correct this. The Big Rock Stampede has 2 Na Hoku award winners (the Hawaiian version of a Grammy), one newly minted and one soon-to-be lawyer, a guy signed and dropped by MCA, a guitarist who has engineered multi-platinum CDs and this is what they'd all rather be doing--the mission statement like “EVERY night is Saturday night" and “every gig will be their last...”

With the opening track Driver, you already know this is going to be a fun record. Unlike most rock music these days, Elephant doesn’t seem to feel the need to take things too seriously. This is exactly what makes Big Rock Stampede great. Every time I listen to this disc it makes me want to go listen to music from my earliest beginnings as a musician. It is so reminiscent of early Kiss, Cheap Trick and Bad Company. I believe most of this is due to the guitar style of Porter Miller. Standard rock licks are his forte but he has an unusual take on them that brings forth a new and somewhat silly attitude.

This is only what I picked up on during my first listen. Much like records from the late 70’s, Big Rock Stampede has a long shelf life. This is due to the thought put into every track. I also attribute this to Porter Miller’s attention to detail in the producers seat. I love the fact that there are backing vocals on this disc but that they are used sparsely and appropriately that when they happen it adds to the dimension of the songs. I also love the way the guitar moves around in the mix.

BUT enough about Porter Miller, the rest of the group is equally as worthy. David Fanelli’s (drums) performance is tight and keeps the group on track. I love the cowbell sounding snare on Driver. It’s a nice touch. Vocalist, Kevin Jones is just a great singer. There’s nothing super fancy about his vocal style but it’s a voice that you can listen to over and over again, which just happens to be another thing that is lacking in most music of the current day.

Apparently, Elephant switched bassists in mid stream here, as credits are given to both David Kopper and Steve McLellan. There are a few other guests on this CD. Jim Hubbard laid a great harmonica track on Bad Suit, which is one of my favorite tracks on the record. Rex Bentley played organ and keys on a few tracks and James Figueira did some additional backing vocals on the song Katie. Big Rock Stampede only lists 7 tracks, although, there are unlisted tracks on the disc.

Song Samples from the CD
All song samples are from the Elephant 41 page on CD Baby.

 Driver/   Bad Suit/   Katie/   Boogie/   Pull the Pin part 1/   Conquistidor/   Pretty Little Thing/   Pull the Pin part 2/3/   Seriously/ 

Conclusion:

Just buy it!! Anyone who was born between 1960 and 1965 will love Big Rock Stampede. Remember as a teenager, when you were listening to Kiss, Cheap Trick, David Bowie and all those pre 80’s rock bands?? Well –here’s something new that will take you back. For all you youngsters that would like to know what your parents were like when they were in college –go pick up a copy of Elephant –Big Rock Stampede and a six pack of beer. Drink the beer and put on Big Rock Stampede and turn it up. Now just do whatever feels natural. You’ll get the picture.

On a scale from 1 to 10, Big Rock Stampede gets 8.5. Good Job! I hope to see a longer disc next time around.

Jimmy Caterine...EvO:R Reviewer.

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About the reviewer- Jimmy Caterine has numerous album credits to his name. He is most noted as founder, guitarist and co-writer for 80’s metal quartet, Sacred Rite (Capitol Records.) He has worked with top name professionals in the industry. This would include Grammy Award winning producer Sonny Limbo (Bertie Higgins) and publishing coordinator Randall Wixen (Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Brown.)

Aside from his original projects he did a 3 month stint playing guitar for the live stage production of Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1987. He was the guitarist for MGM recording artist and power house vocalist, Sami Jo Cole (Tell Me a Lie) in 1995. He has also played with classic rock tribute act Time Machine, on the Las Vegas convention circuit in ’97 and ’98.

Following a car accident in 2001 Jimmy Caterine took a break from performing. He was reluctant to return to the stage due to PTSD. In the years that followed Jimmy took an inward journey to confront his own personal demons. While away he had to come to terms with the many changes in the music industry. During his hiatus he created and released two independent solo CD’s.

In 2007 Jimmy recorded and released a reunion CD with Sacred Rite. Currently Jimmy owns Soulaire Sound which is a mobile recording/live sound reinforcement company in Phoenix, AZ. He performs regularly with his organic jazz sextet, Dream Chemistry.

If you’d like to know more about Jimmy Caterine you can visit the following web sites: