When legends of any genre in the pop music spectrum get together to make music, you know that good things are just bound to happen, and in the case of the modern supergroup The Dead Daisies, they’ve yet to disappoint when it comes to making new material inside of the studio. Their latest single, “Holy Ground (Shake the Memory)” and its music video arrive everywhere this December ready to keep their momentum rolling and introduce even more millennial and Gen Z listeners into the unmatched fierce lightning of an iconic era in the history of rock n’ roll, and to me, it’s some of their heaviest and most accessible content so far.
I love the retro format to the music video for “Holy Ground (Shake the Memory),” and while I don’t mind a lot of bells and whistles when they serve a visual piece well, this is an instance in which all we really want is as hard a rock profile as possible. The Dead Daisies have no problem giving us as raw and real a performance as they can produce in this capacity, and instead of trying to wow us with indulgent animations or theatrics of any sort, they get back to the basics of highlighting their organic chemistry – which is something their mainstream disciples really need to try once in a while.
This lead vocal, provided by the one and only Mr. Glenn Hughes, definitely does a lot to help the harsher melodic elements meld with the percussion a bit easier, but if you’ve heard any of this crew’s work before (or their individual contributions to the history of rock), you’ve come to expect this in their output. Consistency is a very important component of their sound, and while “Holy Ground (Shake the Memory)” has a couple of wild intricacies thrown into its recipe just for good measure, it’s ultimately an example of discipline far more than it is a celebration of decadence.
Classic rock buffs have absolutely no excuse to miss out on the carnal riffing that awaits all who hear “Holy Ground (Shake the Memory)” this winter season, and moreover, anyone who has even a casual interest in rock music would be doing themselves a disservice to ignore what The Dead Daisies are up to right now. It’s not very often in any genre that we get these kind of heavyweights to record something together, and in this moment I’d put The Dead Daisies among some of the most credible supergroups in their generation of players.
John McCall