1		Exithouse	3:25
2		Demon A Go-Go	5:36
3		Soulfinger	3:42
4		The Rapture	5:20
5		I Magnify	4:08
6		The Velvet Fire	4:33
7		Atomic Holiday	7:08
8		Galaxy Of Tears	3:06
9		Luna Gitana	0:48
10		Bludfuk	4:01

Performer, Producer, Music By – Jake E. Lee

It is always difficult for me to review a "guitar hero" album, cause I have problems to listen to a record ... without lyrics. Instrumental songs are not my favorite tracks, so you can imagine my mood when there are only instrumental tracks! I have decided to review this one as I am quite a fan of Jake E Lee (I still have in mind his great solos on Ozzy's video Bark At The Moon).

Exithouse (first track) is interesting and the guitar of Jake E Lee delivers strange sounds (distorted) and the rhythm is very "power metal". Second track, Demon A Go-Go, a kind of 70's psychedelic music mixed with a rhythm "à la" Pulp Fiction. Interesting also, not original, but Jake E Lee plays perfectly on this track.

Soulfinger, third track, could have been used for the television (reminding me Miami Vice jingle). The Rapture is much more conventional. It starts with an acoustic guitar sound (Nothing Else Matter is not very far away)and some woman lyrics, before the electric guitar of Jake E Lee accelerate the rhythm . The most interesting track on this cd ... for my taste of course.

Overall, I can really afford the "electronic" drum on A Fine Pink Mist, but that's another story... All music by Jake E Lee, but through out this record, I had this "déja-vu" feeling, somewhere else and not from the metal scene ... but lot's of things were not new for me.

If you like to hear guitar heroes playing with their instruments, I guess you should check Jake E Lee's A Fine Pink Mist. If you don't like these type of record, this one will not change your taste ... for sure. ---Danny, metalreviews.com

Regrettably, all previous bands of Jake E. Lee turned out to be short-term. Ozzy Osbourne undeservingly dismissed his guitar slinger following the release of two albums – Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin, which he became strongly associated with. Then Jake formed Badlands together with vocalist Ray Gillen, which produced two LPs under that moniker – their self-titled debut and Voodoo Highway. Both releases were met positively by those appreciating good bluesy hard rock, but they failed to attain a wider popularity. Following the second LP the band broke up and Jake went back to square one, needing to start everything from scratch again. His next attempt didn’t take off the ground, so instead he decided to release his first solo effort in 1996.

Without a doubt, the album is somewhat of a black sheep in his brief discography. Whereas all the previous works from Jake were always a band (or, at least, a few band members’) effort, on this one the situation is different. The thing is A Fine Pink Mist is entirely instrumental, with all parts recorded by himself, practically with no outside support. All the instruments involved he played and programmed single-handedly, turning it quite literally into a solo album.

On A Fine Pink Mist Jake demonstrate his talents from a new perspective. While on his previous releases he would stick to the genre requirements and churn out the riffs, sneaking in occasional solos and fills, here the picture is different. No longer limited by standard structures of mainstream hard rock, Jake has the opportunity to spread his songwriting wings, to arrange the tracks at his own discretion depending on the artistic goal and ideas. And this opportunity he relishes fully. Most melodies feel completely self-contained, with rather clearly defined beginning, middle and end, evoking various mental images in the listener’s mind. On one track it is something from the 50s – 60s science fiction (Atomic Holiday), on another it is some apocalyptic story (The Rapture) or as if inspired by horror movies (Bludfuk). The guitarist employs various elements and genres for his purposes, and so there is heavy metal with industrial flavor (Exithouse), blues and surf rock (Demon a Go-Go), psychedelic overtones (I Magnify), all of these blending into a smooth sound cocktail.

Notably, on his own solo album Jake sticks to the same principles as for his other releases. He doesn’t abuse his instrument of choice trying to cram multiple notes into short periods of time just for the sake of it, as if trying to demonstrate to somebody his admirable technical skills. It is actually quite the opposite. He lets the musical pieces develop gradually, aiming for ambience and textures, which make the album more enjoyable to listen. Sometimes it feels like A Fine Pink Mist acted as a kind of a vent for Jake E. Lee, necessary to release his accumulated aggravations and disappointments. Even if it was the case, these negative emotions didn’t impact the end result, but it is definitely a pity that he released only one album like this one.

One way or another, this album ended up being the last release of this underrated six-string slinger, since after this he practically fell off the grid for almost 10 years. Occasionally you could see him here and there as part of some one-off cooperation. There are rumors he had a drug problem, but we don’t know that for sure. In any case the next full-fledged studio album with Jake at the guitar would be released only in 2005. However, this is a whole other story. ---Batareziz, sputnikmusic.com

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1		Whiskey Train
2		Evil
3		Way Back To The Bone
4		I'll Be Creepin'
5		Guess I'll Go Away
6		Love Is Worth The Blues
7		I Come Tumblin'
8		Woman
9		A Hard Way To Go
10		I Can't Stand It
11		Rock Candy

Bass – Tim Bogert
Drums – Aynsley Dunbar
Guitar – Jake E. Lee
Vocals – Chris Logan

When most fans recall Jake E. Lee's playing, it is his stellar, heavy metal-esque style featured on such mid-'80s Ozzy classics as Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin. But aside from hardcore fans, Lee is a bluesy, classic rocker at heart, as evidenced by his work with his post-Ozzy band, Badlands, and especially on his latest solo album, Retraced. Comprised entirely of covers, Lee doesn't go the usual Stones/Zeppelin route, but instead, picks lesser-known songs from his days as a teen playing in bands -- including selections from such outfits as Robin Trower, Johnny Winter, and Trapeze, among others. Reading Lee's notes in the CD booklet, it's surprising to learn that he hadn't picked up his instrument for a year before Shrapnel head Mike Varney convinced him to do the project. The deciding factor for Lee was the rhythm section -- Vanilla Fudge's Tim Bogert on bass and session ace Aynsley Dunbar on drums -- who supports Lee throughout. Ex-Michael Schenker singer Chris Logan handles vocals, and as evidenced by such cuts as "Evil" and "Guess I'll Go Away," Logan gets quite David Coverdale-esque at times. Despite the long fretboard layoff, Lee can still wail away with the best of them, especially on "Way Back to the Bone." For fans of modern-day blues-rock (with, obviously, a classic rock edge), Retraced is definitely recommended. ---Greg Prato, allmusic.com

For someone that claims he hasn’t picked up a guitar in over a year, Jake E. Lee sure hasn’t lost any skills. In fact I’ve always touted Jake as Ozzy Osbourne‘s best guitarist (or at least the most unheralded) – sure Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde may be more influential and have larger fan bases, but Jake has always had a more roots oriented sound. With guitarists it isn’t always how fast you can play or how flashy one is, in my opinion it all comes down to feel and knowing when and why certain notes need to be played. Jake E. Lee is one of the shredders that understand this simple concept.

This is a covers album and in the liner notes Jake himself states that he finds such albums to be a “waste of time” unless one is able to add something to the songs or introduce some music to a new audience – and that is what is being done on Retraced. The blues rock standards found on this release aren’t songs that would usually appear on some bargain bin best of collection. With that in mind, and the chance to work with the legendary Tim Bogert and Aynsley Dunbar, Jake E. Lee decided that a covers album would be worthwhile after all – and I agree.

Right from the opening riffs of the incredible “Whiskey Train” you know that Jake is in fine form and still has the chops – that song also features enough cowbell to make everyone happy. But the magic doesn’t end on that first track; just listen to Jake‘s precision picking on “Way Back To The Bone” or him unleashing a killer solo at near the end of “Love Is Worth The Blues”. In fact you can close your eyes and pick any song on this disc and hear some incredible guitar licks, this is the type of solo album I was wishing Mark Kendall would have released. Badlands used to do some covers on their albums and live shows, and each of these songs would have fit in nicely with their catalog.

If you could compare this to one contemporary artist I would say Retraced is in the same vein as Kenny Wayne Shepard due in part to the bluesy wail of vocalist Chris Logan. This really is an incredible album and lets hope it doesn’t take another year for Jake to pick up the guitar again. ---Skid, sleazeroxx.com

Jake E. Lee dał się poznać w szeregach zespołu OZZY’EGO OSBOURNE’A, ale nie zdobył takiej popularności, jak pochodzący spod tej samej strzechy gitarzyści: Randy Rhoads i Zakk Wilde. Jednak nagrywa płyty, dając upust swoim umiejętnościom, trzymając się przy tym kurczowo klimatów rocka i bluesa. Tym razem Jake namówił do współpracy basistę Tima Bogerta znanego z VANILLA FUDGE i grupy CACTUS oraz perkusistę Aynsleya Dunbara kojarzonego z JOHN MAYALL GROUP, FRANKA ZAPPĄ czy UFO. Niesamowita sekcja rytmiczna, którą docenimy słuchając utworu Evil znanego z repertuaru CACTUS’A. Ci muzycy nie przypadkiem zostali zaproszeni do udziału w tej sesji. Lee głównie sięgnął po covery, składając tym samym hołd swoim wzorcom: FREE – Woman, JOHNNY WINTER’owi – Guess I’ll Go Away czy Rock Candy formacji MONTROSE. ---Tomek „Konfi” Konfederak, topguitar.pl

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