Jack Russell For You CD/Vinyl Reissue Review

Back in August of this year, we suffered the terrible loss of one of Rock’s greatest vocalists in Jack Russell. Personally, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Captain Jack, he had a golden voice, and he used it in all the right ways. There was never a moment where any of his fans were left thinking “what the hell did I just listen to”. Everything Jack touched seemed to turn to gold no matter whether he had the backing of a big label or if he was working with indie labels or doing it himself, it was always authentically Jack! I’ve always been a fan, and his voice is one of my favorites. The work he did with Great White is untouchable! Hell, everything he sang on is legit! I know some might be turned off by Tributes and so forth, but the tributes that Jack sang on are some of my favorite moments of his – “Unchained”, “Sin City”, Anyway You Want It” are a few of those highlights. There’s also a clip of him doing Toto’s “Hold the Line” during the Covid era on Youtube. He was always phenomenal no matter the moment.
 
In November Cleopatra Records did us all a big favor and reissued Jack’s 2^nd solo album, “For You”. For a long time, this CD was a hard find without having to spend big money on it. Thankfully, those days are no more. Cleo has also blessed the CD version and slapped a few bonus tracks on it from some of the label’s tributes – “Analog Kid”, “We will Rock You”, “Another one bites the dust”, and “Eat the Rich”. The label is also offering vinyl pressings of the album and that’s a big deal for this guy – I need anything Jack related on vinyl, it's an absolute MUST for me! I can’t wait to get mine in.

For You was originally released in 2002 and featured an all star cast of musicians in Bob Kulick, Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin and legendary Drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta. That’s a supergroup from hell! I was stoked when I’d heard about it, I couldn’t imagine what I was going to get from all these guys in the same room with Jack. What we got was a bit surprising to some. For You is an all-out jaunt into the halls of AOR music. That’s not a bad thing, but some fans were a bit put out. I thought it was fantastic, and I still do all these years later. Musically, you couldn’t ask for a better album, it moves along with grace and precision, extremely easy on the ears and listenable to most anyone. For us music nerds it’s a master course in how to play this and that – Vinnie’s drumming is spectacular! And Jack’s voice/lyrics really shine – the lyrical content specifically. This is one of those albums where you want to cozy up next to a warm fire with a pretty lady and a few drinks and see where the night takes you.
 
I can’t stress enough just how necessary this album is to your collection – the bonus tracks are worth it alone and that record is going to look great on your shelves! A glass of wine for that special someone and a needle drop on “Whatever it takes” is a damned good start to a weekend!! I’ve been told that this will probably be the last release from Cleopatra that’s Jack Russell related, I really hope that’s not the case. Kudos to the label for recognizing this brilliant album and making it readily available again!

~Black Angel