The album sounds like BLACK SABBATH battling BLACK OAK ARKANSAS, and is perhaps the best disc any of these gents have put out.
- New England Entertainment Digest
Lead vocalist Mach Bell has fronted bands such as gutsy hard rockers Thundertrain (Teenage Suicide, Hot For Teacher, Hell Tonite)--and Bell was the mouthpiece for the molten blues-metal of the Joe Perry Project.
Guitarist Dave Zolla's hot licks bring to mind the adventuresome riffing of guitar giants like Jimi Hendrix and Ronnie Montrose. And the rhythm section of Aart Knyff and Jon Gutlon provide not only an awesome sonic punch on the low end, but the duo also know how to lay down a heavy funkified groove--an almost lost art in today's music scene.
-D Filed.com
This band will, no doubt, please all the people who wonder what the hell happened to music for the past decade.
- 5plendid
Mach Bell has never sounded this good, and the guitar playing sounds like it is straight out of the Randy Rhoads school of non-stop crunch. "New Day Blues" opens up with a flurry of Jimi Hendrix riffs- starting with "Stone Free" while "Dr. Doctor" gives a nod to Bell's original band Thundertrain…
-AMG
The musical pedigree of Last Man Standing is impressive indeed.
So, expectations understandably have run high for Bell's first major release since leaving the JPP. Fortunately Bell, and his songwriting partner, guitarist Dave Zolla don't disappoint. The disc opens with the hip-thrusting swagger of "New Day Blues" recalling past glories with both Thundertrain and the Joe Perry Project, while sporting a totally modern production vibe. And Bell distinguishes himself right away with his trademark whiskey-soaked howling. "Dr. Doctor" is an exhilarating heavy blues stomper.
"Turnaround" rocks hard, but also has radio-friendly pop hit potential. That goes double for "Still Dreaming (What Could Be)" which is a melodic gem that should melt the hearts of teenage girls everywhere, while still bringing in the head banging crowd. "Funk #5" combines a sort of cut-and-paste take on James Brown's lyrics with a track that Warren DeMartini wishes he wrote. "Miles and Miles" proves that Zolla is no slouch in the guitar gymnastics department with dazzling fretwork to spare. "Twilight's Last Gleaming" seems to speak to our nation's recent tragedy and yet is enigmatic enough to defy easy categorization.
All in all, the Last Man Standing CD marks a much-needed return to ballsy hard rockin' music after a turgid decade of gutless teenybopper pop, soulless grunge, mindless hip-hop and clueless rap-metal. LMS are the real deal.
- Chris Parcellin
Lead guitarist/record producer DAVE ZOLLA spearheads LAST MAN STANDING, strumming his custom built, high performance Mor Paul guitar. Dave founded LAST MAN STANDING with sidekick Mach Bell in the spring of 1996. The two spent many months jamming, writing material and auditioning players. Zolla tracked, mixed and mastered the debut album at his ZOLLA PRO recording studios located in Norwood Ma. Previously Dave led progressive rockers Buckingham performing at Boston's Paradise Theater and the Channel. Zolla has a long list of album production credits that span hip-hop, jazz, spoken word and rock artists.
JON GUTLON is the steam-rolling drummer for LAST MAN STANDING. Speaking softly but carrying big sticks, solemn Jon works hard. His powerful sound drives the debut LMS CD.
AART KNYFF, best known as the lead guitarist for Boston metal-rocking L88, busts out his Warwick bass guitar to round out the LAST MAN STANDING line up. Dutchman Aart is a talented singer/songwriter with a lot of stage experience.
In "Walk This Way" the 1997 autobiography of Aerosmith, Joe Perry says "My new singer Cowboy Mach Bell was a rock 'n' roll guy who grew up in the town over from me, Holliston MA, and had a group called Thundertrain. He loved to rave and be in a band...."
The Toronto Star says "Mach Bell is a leather voiced singer in the Bon Scott mold who is more than willing to take the center stage spotlight." Circus Magazine called "Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker", the Joe Perry Project's 1983 MCA release, co-written by Joe Perry and Mach Bell "One of this years best hard rock albums."
Mach toured continuously for 3 years with the JPP, headlining at hundreds of venues including The Hollywood Palace, NYC's Bottom Line, Pocono Speedway, the Agora Ballroom circuit, Toronto's El Macombo, the New England Dragway and the huge Poliedro Arena in Caracas Venezuela.
Mach's career was always full of controversy... According to the liner notes of 1999's "The Best of the Joe Perry Project-The Music Still Does the Talking" - "If breathless reports of the day are to be believed, a roaring drunk Bell took to periodically parading around in the nude, creating havoc...."
Mach Bell also fronted the glory stomping Thundertrain for five years (1974-79). Bell was a regular in the pages of Rock Scene, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Groupie News and 16 Magazine who called the 18-year-old singer "sexy and sensational ". Thundertrain even got a mention in Time Magazine's cover story on punk rock..
Thundertrain were featured on the seminal double LP "Live at the Rat" and had a hit in the U.K. with "Hot For Teacher!" the single taken from their 1977 Jelly/JEM album "Teenage Suicide". Thundertrain performed with many stars including Thin Lizzy, David Johansen, The Runaways, the Romantics and The Cars. Mach and Thundertrain played at almost every high school and college campus in New England as well as appearing regularly at famed clubs including Max's Kansas City, CBGB's, The Rat and the Cleveland Agora.
Over the past decades there has been a renewed interest in Mach's rock 'n' roll career. All of his Thundertrain and Joe Perry recordings continue to be re-released internationally. Dozens of bootlegs, concert videos and Internet fan-sites have sprung up. "Black Velvet Pants" the MTV video featuring Mach with the Joe Perry Project has been replayed on VH1 and MTV.
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