PEARL: Little Immaculate White Fox

Produced by Joe Barresi

Her dad is rock god Meatloaf and she's married to Scott Ian from Anthrax. Her backing band is Mother Superior, one of the tightest and most versatile rock trios on the planet. So when Pearl Aday declares she is a rock child on the opening track of her first album and unleashes a scream that sounds like her lungs are going to attack you, you better believe it. It's hard not to compare her to that other Pearl when she rips into "Nutbush City Limits", albeit without the quart of Southern Comfort for fuel, and when she moves into a country mode on the back half of the album you could be forgiven for thinking you were hearing Tammy Wynette.

Little Immaculate White Fox is Pearl's debut as a solo performer, but with fifteen years experience already behind her and the songwriting clout of Mother Superior on her side she has delivered one smoking hot rock album. The first four songs are just pure hard rock awesomeness: catchy and heavy with a powerhouse vocal raunch. On "Mama" the band slows down into a smokey blues with a heavy feel and Pearl nails it to the wall. After this point the album takes a distinct right turn, into the country ballad "My Heart Isn't In It". I find modern country music to be bland and awful, but Pearl keeps it real with a tough n' tender croak and Jim Wilson sprinkles it with blues licks. The country-blues feel pervades the next couple of songs when "Worth Defending" steps up as a stand-out as the band (which also features her husband playing as you've never heard him before) lays down a heavy rocking blues for Pearl's Joplin-by-way-of-Wynette vocal dynamite. "Anything" is another slow-burning number with Jerry Cantrell putting down some trademark moodiness before "Whore" closes the album with a nice dose of big dumb cock(less) rock.

Pearl Aday is a superstar and her band is every bit as killer. Check out Matt Tecu's drumming in the big Who-like intro to "Rock Child" for example, and Scott Ian and Jim Wilson just crank out hooky riffs all over the place. Even Ted Nugent drops by to tear out a solo in "Checkpoint Charlie". Little Immaculate White Fox is heavy-hitting classic hard rock, but with this kind of pedigree you really couldn't expect anything less.

1. Rock Child
2. Nutbush City Limits
3. Broken White
4. Check Out Charlie
5. Mama
6. My Heart Isn't in It
7. Nobody
8. Worth Defending
9. Lovepyre
10. Anything
11. Whore

Rating: 95%

Note: My version has the last two titles transposed on the track-listing. Oh, and check out that photo on page 7 of the booklet. Scott Ian is one lucky fucker.