Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog, it is the strength of character that marks out, not only genius but the willingness to carve out the furrow long after many have the trench and found their way to a comfortable place beside the fire – it takes a Big Dog to watch the other animals in the pack resign their feelings and still have the courage and tenacity to bark and growl in the night.

For Albert Castiglia, the Big Dog has arrived, it is protective of its owner and best friend and is one hell of a beast, it strains at the leash, every sinew bursting, standing up and proud above the surface and occasionally gets to chew on the certainty of life and give those who profess to have the best interests of the common people, the poor and unfortunates, a snarling nip, the healthy bite of reality they so desperately require.

Big Dog is not so much an album but a statement, an assertion that Albert Castiglia rocks the Blues and allows it free reign in his own back yard; no other dog comes close to pinching this particular butcher’s succulent bone, no other hound would dare.

There is nothing lightweight about the album, this is a dog un-plagued or unaffected by distempered needs or the shallow growl of a frightened pup; this is big hearted and full of beast like proportions, the messages loud and clear and in the final track of the album, Somehow, more damning than any political rally or endorsement.

Songs such as Don’t Let Them Fool Ya, the amusing Get Your Ass In The Van, the sensuality of Let’s Make Love In The Morning and the excellent Where The Devil Makes His Deals all captivate and charm the listener, they make them want to be held and given a home, to cut through the hullabaloo and the commotion and to stand proud, haunches erect and ready to pounce on the undeserving and the reckless.

Big Dog indeed, however the size of it may be huge, it might fight and scrap- like a heavyweight champion but it is one that is to be respected at all costs.

Ian D. Hall