Duke – Duke (2010)

As requested, here’s this now hard to find album released by Spanish singer / songwriter DUKE – real name Javier Rodríguez. For this solo project Javier teamed up with his fellow countrymen Rafa Martin to produce and co-write the album. Rafa Martin gained international success with his critically acclaimed disc “Corazon De Hierro” (1995), which was produced and co-written by musicians from Harem Scarem.

Thanks to Rafa contacts, with Duke both flew to Toronto with their songs, and all HAREM SCAREM crew accepted to be involved. Pete Lesperance plays guitar on the entire “Duke” album and he has also co-produced, Creighton Doane perform all drums, and Harry Hess sings a duet with Javier on ‘Into The Sun’, and also mixed the whole thing.

The overall sound takes you back to Harem Scarem modern melodic hard rock style, where Duke’s vocals are highlighted. Opener ‘Las Musas Del Buen Sonador’ is a nice midtempo while ‘Yo No Soy James Bond’ has very cool rhythm guitars by Lesperance. ‘Volver a Buscar’ is a modern laid back ballad including some acoustics, then the melodic rocker ‘Mundo Magico’ has the typical Harem Scarem / Rubber vibe with strong guitars.

One of the best tracks here is ‘Dentro Del Sol’, also sung with Harry Hess at the end of the disc with English lyrics. This is an instantly likable uptempo song with a really good catchy chorus. Another rocker comes with ‘Detrás De Nuestra Canción’ featuring interesting vocal melodies, ‘No Puedo Estar Mejor’ has strong verses and one of the best Lesperance solos.

“Duke” is a solid album, well written & produced with polish, with good vocals and top class playing for the genre. The Spanish lyrics shouldn’t bother you, because music wise is first class stuff in the vein of Harem Scarem. This CD has become a rarity, even for an used copy.

Tracklist:

1. Las Musas del Buen Sonador
2. Yo No Soy James Bond
3. Volver A Buscar
4. Mundo Magico
5. Dentro Del Sol
6. Dame Una Portunidad
7. Detras De Questra Cancion
8. No Puedo Estar Mejor
9. Quiero Conocer
10. Cecilia
11. Into The Sun (duet with Harry Hess)

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