The prospect of Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, Tommy Iommi, and drummer Vinny Appice getting together to tour as Heaven and Hell, a sort of pseudo-Black Sabbath if you will, is one of the more tantalizing musical announcements of 2007 to be sure.
Still the recent revelation of Heaven and Hell’s upcoming tour begs this question: what will become of Vinny Appice’s other recent project Three Legged Dogg? The most likely answer is the band will be neatly discarded by the wayside of rock’s forgotten projects as Appice bails for greener, as in lined with cash, pastures. I say that because it wasn’t long ago that Nikki Sixx left the ranks of Brides of Destruction to return to Motley Crue and we all saw how that turned out.
Comprised of a second string line-up of metal “all-stars,” (Most notably Carlos Cavazo from Quiet Riot and Jimmy Bain of Dio fame) Three Legged Dogg’s debut album, Frozen Summer, is a decent blast of rock and roll that sounds a lot like Soundgarden might have today if they wouldn’t have went their separate ways. I say that mainly because the bands overall sound has a distinctly “grunge” sound, however the songwriting itself takes its cues from many different styles and all in all it is a well written album.
The album has been out since October of last year, and the fact I just received a review copy says to me that Perris Records, who is usually on top of their game, is trying to salvage what they can from a failed, if well intentioned, project. If you happen across this album give it a listen, if for no other reason than to compare Three Legged Dogg’s material to the new songs that Heaven and Hell have come up with.
It’s sad to see a collection of songs, and no doubt the hard work of all those involved, given such little hope for a future given the recent developments with Heaven and Hell and Appice’s commitment to it. Yet, that seems to be the current nature of rock and roll.
I suppose it’s possible that the band will continue with a new drummer but I haven’t been able to get any conformation of that, so for now Three Legged Dogg is just another band whose “15 minutes of fame” was just that.
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