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Principato. His guitar playing is excellent all the way through and you can clearly
hear that Stevie Ray Vaughan is a very big influence. Whilst there is nothing new or
out of the ordinary about this album what you do get is a good solid dose of blues

rock and if that is your bag you will want to give this a spin.

Ged Wilson

When Rivers Meet—Aces Are High—One Road Re-
cords

When Rivers Meet do not need any introduction as they
are one of the UK’s top performing bands with multiple

UK Blues awards behind them. “Aces High” is their third
album.

The album opens with ‘Infected’ a heavy driven guitar riff
with Grace’s sweet vocals on top. ‘Seen It All Before’ is
another riff based tune that does not venture too far and meanders slightly. ‘Golden’

is a more gentle acoustic offering that features them both sharing the vocals, I liked
this one. The title track ‘Aces Are High’ is another rock riff infused tune.

‘The Secret’ in parts reminded me of Blondie no less, whilst things slow down a little
with ‘By Your Side’ and a chance to hear them sharing vocals again on this lovely
gentle song. The album comes to a close with a rock riff over a shuffle beat on ‘5

Minutes Until Midnight’.

This album has been well produced and captures the distinctive sound of Aaron’s
guitar work and Grace’s fantastic voice. With the exception of ‘Golden’ and ‘By Your
Side’ they have developed a well worked formula of prominent powerful drums,
heavy rock based guitar riffs and sweet sounding vocals which has become their

signature sound. Whilst this formula may work well for gigs and festivals it doesn’t
necessarily transfer well for home listening and things can get a bit ‘samey’ at times.

There are hints of blues to be had here but this is essentially a rock album and if
that’s your thing you are going to love “Aces Are High”.

Ged Wilson