Gary Dranow is a painter, singer, and athlete whose life story exemplifies the power of passion, tenacity, and the human spirit. His music is heavily influenced by the stylings of musical icons like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Gary Dranow and The Manic Emotions, a blues-rock trio from Park City, Utah, have finally released Destiny Road, their much awaited first album. Gary's 14-song blues rock and classic rock CD is an autobiographical and highly personal musical journey that captures his hardships, victories, and everything in between.
This album, called Destiny road, was supposed to come out in the summer of 1998. It was even recorded on Jefferson Airplane's old 2′′ 16 Track machine, which was owned by Jerry Manfredi, his producer. This is an autobiographical and highly personal musical journey that captures his hardships, victories, and everything in between. Gary's musical inventiveness peaked in the mid-1990s, while he was battling with his bipolar 1 disease and mania.
The opener is the title track, starting with a great guitar riff and guitar solos, soothing and catchy vocals and also a very good arrangement. Definitely one of the best songs on the album. "Something about you" is a little more upbeat with very cool bass lines. "(Made it) another day" slows down a bit but maintains a contagious mood, again with very tasty bass lines (the guitar inserts are also spot on). I like the pure rock mood of "Kisses" (I love the solos in the second part of the song), "Twisted Mind" and "Fool outta Me" with a pure 70s spirit. Talking about old style rock, an even better example is "Dat I was born" going even back to the '50s (great piano and very inspired guitar solos in this one!).
Among other moments of the album, the calming mood and the classy arrangement of "Windows" and "When the World is too much", the solo at the beginning of "The king is dead", the pace and the lyrics of "Mellow Drama", and the vocal lines of the last track "Johnny was a driver".
What I really appreciated about "Destiny Road" is the variety of content, which very well alternated during the full length: pure rock songs, old-fashioned blues, ballads, and mid-tempos, making the album enjoyable from start to finish. Give it a go by clicking on the Spotify player below and don't forget to follow Gary Dranow and The Manic Emotions on social media as well.
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