Review: Collateral – Re-Wired

Cargo Records (October 21st, 2022)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

Right, let’s start this here review by pushing the proverbial elephant out of the room. What? Well as those who know me know that I’ve been a fan and supporter of Collateral since, well since before they were Collateral! So I need to try and approach this review of ‘Re-Wired‘ with an open mind if that makes sense?

Let’s make one thing clear from the start, ‘Re-Wired‘ isn’t just a case of let’s reissue the debut but with someone else singing/playing on it. And talking about the guest musicians on this album, they’re not Pete and Bob from the local pub band. The sheer calibre of who Collateral got involved in this album is staggering. I know some of said musicians are themselves Collateral fans, something that blows the band away!

Those of you who are Collateral fans and own the self-titled debut will, I guess, know that album pretty well. Well take that knowledge and throw it out the window. The songs take on a whole new life on ‘Re-Wired‘. With the afore mentioned calibre of talent it takes a certain something for each track to stand above its neighbours.

The sheer energy injected by Jeff Scott Soto into ‘Mr. Big Shot‘ propells the song to dizzying new heights. The fantastic blend of vocals from Angelo Tristan and Sari Schorr on ‘About This Boy‘ transforms it.

The distinctive vocals of Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn fit perfectly on ‘Midnight Queen‘. This is so up Danny’s street musically and it certainly sounds that way.

Hearing ‘Won’t Stop Me Dreaming‘ with the female input of singer Helen Hurt takes away some of the heavier sound of the original and gives it more of a country rock vibe, the rock part reinforeced by former Europe guitarist Kee Marchelo.

‘In It For Love‘ sounds somewhat clearer, a more open soundscape, with the added tight bass playing of the legend that’s Rudy Sarzo! And the subtle but wonderful input of Blackberry Smoke‘s Paul Jackson on ‘Get Back To You‘ again takes the original version and adds a certain sparkle, if that’s the right word, it’s truly fabulous.

With The Cadillac Three‘s Kelby Ray on ‘Merry Go Round‘, Bon Jovi‘s Phil X on ‘Promiseland‘ and Whitesnake/TSO axe slinger Joel Hoekstra on ‘Lullaby‘ my only wish would be (maybe with a lottery win, fingers crossed) to see the whole of ‘Re-Wired‘ preformed live complete with all the guest musicians. I know…….but one can dream!

Which leaves one final track, the new single ‘Sin In The City‘. This is a classic Collateral song which having heard it performed live loses none of the heavier sound it has over some of the band’s other tracks.

Well there you have it, I think I managed to reign in my inner fan. As I said at the start, don’t assume that ‘Re-Wired‘ is just a re-hash! It’s far from that.

Don’t forget to catch the boys on stage next month supporting H.E.A.T and Skid Row!