Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Where would existence be without the likes of Marcus Malone popping up on a regular basis through the back drop of life’s sometimes audible eternal howl? It certainly wouldn’t be as interesting nor as musically rich or plush nor as precious in the way that Blues can be.

Marcus Malone lives the Blues, he plays with its concept and gives it an edge in which few dare to follow and is reminiscent of the luxuriant tones that was gifted the young David Coverdale, in short without Marcus Malone appearing somewhere on your playlist of the day, then the 24 hours that separates one midnight to the next may as well be a blur of undisguised bemusement.

For his sixth album, Mr. Malone takes the Rock/Blues genre on again and in Stand or Fall, he performs, alongside guest musicians such as Sean Nolan, Stuart Dixon, Julian Burdock, the great Winston Blissett and Chris Nugent, music of such intensity that to turn down the volume could be seen as an act of wilful destruction, the ears of the listener would never trust the actions of the fingers again. Stand Or Fall, the meaning of life in some respects, do you stand by the words you write or even say in the splutter of haste or give in, fall and fail to make your belief known, shying away from the confrontation that people may try their worst tricks in which to see it happen. Stand or Fall, surely Marcus Malone stands firmly and utterly proud of this creation.

There is every reason to believe he obviously stands by the words, the listener cannot but help be bowled over by the lyrics and free flowing tracks he has put together for Stand or Fall. Tracks such as Ain’t No Tellin, Detroit City Blues, Jealous Mind and One Woman Man gush and surge along at a comfortable pace, time to reflect enough of the musical drift, before pulling along at a rate of knots that would make a speedboat pull up the white flag of surrender to the dashing oncoming storm about to wash over it.

The movement of music is never better than when the listener believes completely in what the musician is, not just saying and playing, but in the pauses for breath, the unsung memories in which stay silent and unheard, the moments in which a guitar can speak volumes and stand side by side with the musician in a perfect symbiosis affair. Stand or Fall, Marcus Malone makes his position known.

Ian D. Hall