Turn It On, Turn It Up
By: Kris Bell
Label: Kris Bell Music
Review Date: January, 2012

I hear it all the time: “Rock and roll is dead”.  If one is not careful, it’s very easy to get sucked into that vortex of stinkin’ thinkin’.  But I’m here to tell you that, if you are one of those who thinks that way, I have some excellent news for you: Not only is rock NOT dead, it’s alive, well, and giving birth to some great new artists.

Case in point: Kris Bell and his new album, Turn It On, Turn It Up.

Kris is a remarkable guitarist who developed his chops in Southern California, moved to Nashville, Tennessee (also known as “The Throne of God” – at least in my house it is), landed a gig as Bo Bice’s guitarist and launched his solo career. 

Turn It On, Turn It Up is Bell’s second offering of straight forward, American rock and roll as it’s meant to be played: Loud, tough and in your face.

The album is replete with excellently written songs, brilliant guitar work, and tight, tight work by the rest of the band.  In fact, this album presents talent that is on par with some of the most seasoned and mature rock acts crisscrossing this good ol’ U. S. of A.

The album grabs you by the throat from the git-go with Livin’ For Tomorrow. To me, that tune makes me think that this is what Rare Earth would sound like if they were starting out today . . . but on steroids.  Bell’s guitar screams like a audio dive bomber zeroing in on your ear drums and carpet bombing your sense of hearing.

And that’s just the beginning.

The album ebbs and flows through the full gamut of emotions.  From the aforementioned tune to the bittersweet Destined (about Kris’s conversation with his deceased parents) toLosing Faith (that bares the soul of one who faces a crisis of faith when the good die young) to the hard-stompin’ My So Called Friend (about friends parting ways) to With You In Mind (about a romance gone south), this album will wring every kind of emotion plumb out of you.

How’s that for a run-on sentence?

So, if you’re someone Living For Tomorrow but Losing Faith about the state of rock n’ roll, then you and your So Called Friends are Destined to purchase this album written With You In Mind.  And when you get it, Turn It On, Turn It Up.