Liberty N' Justice

Light It Up

Reviewed by Tom Johns on 2009-11-13
Liberty N' Justice, led by Justin Murr, have made their distinction in the music business but not with a signature sound, style, musician or even a vocalist but with the various guests that contribute on each album; Light It Up is no exception. In fact, when I listen to any of the last few albums from LNJ no two songs are alike, it is almost like listening to various artist albums. Now, these are not just any ol' guests... we're talking Dale Thompson, Les Carlson, Chris Jericho, Ted Poley... and that's just to name a few of the vocalists. There are also some great guest musicians as well. LNJ have put out some amazing albums and when I heard that Light It Up was by far the best album they have done, well lets just say that I have been involved in the music business for a long time and when I hear those kind of claims, I get a little weary. Now, I received a copy of Light It Up and yes, I was estatic. I have listened to it several times and well....here's my opinion: The album starts off with the title track, "Light It Up"; this song features Phil Lewis of LA Guns & JK Northrup. This song starts off just with a nice groove, then slows down a bit for an almost Alice Cooper type style then gets back into the groove for the chorus. This song is a great way to start the album off. Next, Dale and Troy Thompson from Bride rock in with "The Other Theif". This song sounds like it could have come right off of their latest masterpiece, "Tsar Bomba". Dale sings with passion, like we'd expect anything less, and Troy wields his six string axe with shear mastery. Lynn Louise Lowrey of Vixen and Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister share the mic with "Blink". This song is a little more radio friendly but don't let that fool you, it rocks and I can see it being a listener favorite. "Do What You Believe is performed by CJ Snare and Bill Leverty of Firehouse; one of my favorite 90's hairbands. These boys sound like they have not missed a beat. This is more of a balladic tune but CJ and Bill put just the right touch to make it an awesome song. Ted Poley of Danger Danger and Vic Rivera of Crunch handle "Man Vs Mother Nature". This is another radio friendly song but again, done with style. Ted has been involved with some of the other LNJ albums and I can see why Justin calls him back, great vocalist. "Treading on Serpents" is handled by Bloodgood's Les Carlsen and Stryper's Oz Fox! Les is in your face rockin' as usual and Oz shreds it up leaving your air guitar fingers fitigued and ready to fall off. This is a great song and makes my mouth water for some new Bloodgood. Ok, this is my favorite song on the album, "Uncle Sam". This song features Sheldon Tarsha of Tarsha/Adler’s Appetite and Jeff Pilson of Dokken/Foreigner. Now, one might think that this is an American patriot song, it does lean that way but it focuses more on the spiritual state of our country and it totally rocks! "Uncle Sam is not half the man he used to be..." Next is the acoustic track, "Every Reason to Believe". This song features the talents of Kelly Keeling of Baton Rouge/TSO and Kerri Kelli of Alice Cooper. This song is far from boring, Kelly has just the right raspiness to make this a very cool song. "Wrestling With God" is another smoking song featuring Pete Loran, Steve Brown of Trixter & Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal of GN’R/Lita Ford. Pete is another regular on the LNJ albums and definitely adds some punch. Next we have "Best Time We Never Had" featuring Chris Jericho (WWE Wrestler/ Fozzy) & Phil Collen of Def Leppard. I was really anxious to hear this song. I have a few Fozzy albums and they smoke! Well, I was not dissapointed as Chris pile drove this song and retains his championship belt. Harry Hess and Pete Lesperance of Harem Scarem rock the song "Beautiful Decision". This song has a great beat and some great hooks as well. Next is "Drunk Dead Gorgeous" featuring Marq Torien of BulletBoys and Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. This is another great rocker and I can see this too being a listener favorite. Great vocals, harmonies and some killer hooks. "Greed" is performed by Robert Mason of Warrant/Lynch Mob and Jerry Dixon of Warrant and has a very cool groove. I really like the drive on this song and I have to put this in my top fav's on this album. The album ends with a ballad called "For Better or for Worse" featuring Shawn Pelata of Line Of Fire & Stephen Chesney of Frontiers. This is a nice way to end a killer album. I do have to say that Light It Up has lived up to the hype. Justin and company have pulled off another kickin' album and have etched their niche in the music industry with this star-studded classic. I have to definitely give LNJ credit, not sure if too many bands can handle this much talent and sound this great. I recommend this album whole heartedly and turning it up real loud. In fact....Light It Up!