Tyla J. Pallas Gilding The Lily CD Review
If you’ve landed on this article, then congrats – you either have great taste or you’ve made a happy mistake… Tyla J. Pallas is one of the most important musicians on this planet in my opinion. Pallas got his claim to fame as the lead vocalist/lyricist in the 80’s Sleaze/Hard Rock band, Dogs D’Amour. If you’ve never heard the Dogs, then stop reading and hit youtube right quick and check out the track “How Come It Never Rains”. I’ve been a fan since 1988 when I first heard the song on late night MTV. The song resonated deeply with me even though I wasn’t old enough to have felt all the lyrics in the song, it was just special. Of course, I had to have the album (In The Dynamite Jet Saloon) imported through my local Record Store, the band hadn’t quite crossed over in the USA yet – still haven’t, really.
My experience with this album has led me to collect, search and order anything related to the Dogs & Tyla since ‘88. And trust me, there’s a TON of it – Tyla is one of the hardest working musicians out there, having released an album every year if not every other for the last several years. Nowadays the original Dogs D’Amour is no more, so it’s Tyla’s Dogs or it’s just simply Tyla J. Pallas and he’s subject to record an acoustic album out of nowhere too. Not to shortchange the fellows that originally helped Tyla bring the band to life, but it’ll always be Dogs D’Amour to me no matter what, it’s still Tyla’s voice and his lyrics. I won’t bullshit you, my favorites will always be “In the Dynamite Saloon” & “A Graveyard Empty Bottles”. And every year on my birthday I spin them both, because it makes me feel about making it another year… There were times in my life where I didn’t think I’d live to see another birthday and those albums always brought me back to myself and gave me a sense of clarity and belonging.
Since I can babble about the importance of the Dogs and Tyla, all day, let’s move along and get to why we’re here - the latest release from Tyla J. Pallas is entitled “Gilding The Lily”. It was just released a few weeks ago on Double Vinyl and CD. In true Tyla fashion it’s a long album coming in at 18 tracks, so there’s a TON to unpack, soak up and breathe in – it’s not for the casual fan that’s for sure unless you want to split it up into pieces. Who wants to do that?! It’s Tyla, the length doesn’t matter, the more the merrier is what I say! What I can tell you is, it’s exactly what I expected it to be, the subject matter revolves around life, choices, love and the human condition – again typical if you’re a fan of the man. Musically, it reminds me of his album from a few years back “Bloody Hellfire” which I thought to be one of his best efforts since “Graveyard of Empty Bottles”. Here we’re treated to a great deal of laid-back sentimental moments, then there are those soulful times where the Bluesy vibes reign down. There’s also a few Rockers present. It depends on what you prefer really, this album seems to have it all, which is how Tyla has continuously presented his music and himself.
Standout tracks – “Baptism By Fire”, “Cadillac Man”, “Don’t Ever Stop Lovin’ Me”, “Human After All”, “In Plain Site”, “Glory Days” and title track “Gilding The Lily”.
Tyla J. Pallas is a national treasure at this point in his career. No matter what he’s doing, he’s always bringing his “A” game whether he’s working with the Dogs, The Balladmongrels or he’s working with Spike from the Quireboys on their Hot Knives project. Tyla seems to be touched by the Gods of Rock N’ Roll, he’s everything one could hope for in an artist – he never fakes it or cheats his fans when it comes to the song, the album or the performance, his work on this latest effort solidifies this thought. He’s the Jack Sparrow of Rock N’ Roll, always looking for the Rum/Wine, while dressed to the nines, charismatic and cheeky as hell, but one look in his eyes and you can tell he’s always one step away from becoming a beautiful disaster. This album should land in my top ten of 2025, no doubt.