Philip Sayce, Influence.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

You only have to hear the start of the gentle rhythmic hum of the guitar to know that what you are about hear is so close to off the scale that there hasn’t been a machine invented yet to take the enormity of it.

For Welsh born Canadian Blues Rock guitarist Philip Sayce, his latest release, a selection of covers and sparkling originals by those who have impelled him to become the man, the musician, that he is, delivers such a knock-out blow that Lennox Lewis and Henry Cooper would have both been left reeling from the absorbed shock and Muhammad Ali would have had second thoughts of entering the ring for a grudge re-match. Such is the power of Influence that it packs a first rate punch and its impact is unimpeachable.

Influence is exactly that, an album in which Philip Sayce learned, listened and immersed himself in a symbol of appreciation over the decades and it shows with the same clarity of a person finding themselves in a dead end situation with one glimmering hope left attached to their lives, to start over somewhere new and be the very best you can be there.

Whilst the cover songs that make up Influence itself are steaming, it is the extremely hard work Philip Sayce authentically pours into the original tracks on the album that catches the ear with the same intensity as an atomic bomb explosion, you hear the roar, you feel the rush and the effect is devastating on the mind.

The tracks that have been expertly written by both Philip Sayce and producer Dave Cobb are in an equilibrium phase with the heroes from Mr, Sayce’s past, the stunning Evil Woman, Fade Into You, Easy On The Eyes, Triumph and Out Of My Mind all capture the emotion that has been decanted into them like fine whisky being placed into a smouldering furnace.

With great contributions from fellow musicians such as Chris Powell on drums, Fred Mandel on piano, organ and keyboards and the feminine presence of Kristen Rogers, Influence is surely the right word, not only has Philip Sayce been heavily inspired but he has paid it back in spades by encouraging and stimulating his legion of fans.

A real corker of an album and the only time it should be permitted to be under the Influence.

Ian D. Hall