For you who may not know who this dude is, Joel Hoeckstra is the guitarist in Whitesnake and has been so since 2015 when he replaced Doug Aldrich. He plays on the Deep Purple cover-album The Purple Album (2015) and their latest album Flesh & Blood (2019). He is also Cher’s guitarist and has a past with both Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Night Ranger. He also is a solo artist and has three solo albums to his name. His latest project is called 13 and back in 2015, Joel released the debut album Dying To Live. I really dug that record but for some reason it got some mixed reviews. That album contained some fine melodic Hard Rock with lead vocals from both Jeff Scott Soto and Russell Allen (Symphony X) and some brilliant guitar work from maestro Hoeckstra. What’s not to like about that?
Fast-forward six years and it’s time for Hoeckstra’s 13 to bring out a sequel to that album. This time, Allen holds the mike on all the songs with Soto onboard for backing vocals duties. The backing band is the same as on the last record – Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot) on bass, Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, WW III, Resurrection Kings) on drums and Derek Sherinian (Sons Of Apollo, Black Country Communion, Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen, Alice Cooper, Kiss) on keyboards. A line-up to be quite impressed of, in my opinion.
On a beefy Hard Rock note, Hoeckstra & Co. open the album with the single “Finish Line”, an uptempo rocker with a riff somewhat borrowed from Dio’s “We Rock”, all edgy and powerful. Hoeckstra’s leads are muscular yet melodic and the whole tune is intense and holds a kicking rhythm. There’s a Metal influence here, no doubt, but it also comes with some fine-tuned vocal-melodies and a Melodic Rock driven chorus which sure brings a lasting impression. Very good. “I’m Gonna Lose It” is an upbeat arena-rocker with a crispy crunch in the guitars and it takes a straight-forward road rhythmically. We get some tasty licks from Joel but and even though the tune comes across as a heavier take on early 90’s American melodic Hard Rock, it never gets cheesy or mawkish – only hook-laden and a damn distinct and catchy refrain. Very good.
The smooth and pop-flirtatious “Hard To Say Goodbye” takes us straight back to the mid 80’s, very Melodic Rock laden yet with a quite crunchy and edgy guitar-sound. It’s a straight-forward number with a distinct hook and at times it reminds some of Talisman’s slicker tunes. The steady and fat rhythm-section says that it is Hard Rock we’re dealing with here and brings on some edge but the chorus screams hit-single right off the bat. Very catchy, very good. “How Do You” is a slowburner. It’s on the ballad side, down-beat with held-back verses and a melancholic touch. The guitar-melody is infectious, the pre-chorus runs in a musical-theatre stream and the chorus is huge, full of hooks 80’s style and very memorable. A brilliant tune.
“Heart Attack” is a sleazy hard-rocker that takes us back to the early 90’s with big, crunchy guitars, a fat and a thunderous rhythm section, a straight-forward, in-your-face rocker that sure kicks up some dust. There’s a bluesy vibe to the tune as well and the organ-solo is a plus as well. That said, the tune is a bit too middle-of-the-road and even though the chorus is pretty direct, the tune really isn’t that special at all. “Fantasy” is a slow and heavy piece with an underlying darkness that reminds me of 70’s Rainbow if they were a Sunset Strip band in 1989. The tune holds a chunky groove with kicking rhythms and big vocal-melodies and the chorus throws hooks all around which brings on a massive catchiness. Very good.
The slide-guitar driven “Lonely Days” goes into a bluesier Melodic Rock direction with a nod back to 1987-something, not a far cry from how Whitesnake’s poppier material sounds today. To hear Allen blast through the slick AOR-laden chorus is a joy as it’s not something we’re used to. It’s a straight-forward pop-rocker with a sticky and slick refrain that easily could have been a MTV-hit back when – good one indeed. “Reach The Sky” comes on in a mid pace and mixes big pop-vibes with a more blues-rock crunch. We get some big, fat riffing, a chunky groove and some sweeping keyboards from Sherinian and another AOR-ish, splendid chorus which again feels like it could have been a hit back when music was fun and there still was music on MTV.
The title “Cried Enough For You” says power-balladry but it’s actually the opposite. This is a dark, angry and metal-fused hard rocker where Appice throws in what he did in Dio and Franklin’s bass thunders on giving the tune a ballsy and muscular structure and a punchy rhythm. Allen lets roar with some of his trademark aggressive vocals but with lots of melody. While all of that sounds just dandy, the tune is actually a bit forgettable and doesn’t really go anywhere. “Take What’s Mine” brings back the Dio touches within the riffing and the tune breaks loose in a straight ahead manner with some meaty rhythms and an in-your-face and direct chorus. It’s a good song but a step or two away from being great.
The title-track which finishes the album is the most down-beat, sparse and stripped number on the album. In a slow pace, this acoustic-guitar driven ballad drops somewhere between early Whitesnake and Led Zeppelin and is a soulful, organic and down-to-earth number with a gorgeous main-melody and an ace performance from Allen. It’s lyrically in a darker mood with a clear reference towards depression. A personal, honest and outgoing tune – and it’s awesome!
Just like on the debut, we’re giving pretty traditional melodic Hard Rock here, not all that original and not innovative at all but since I find those things trivial anyway, I don’t give a shit. I want good songs. I want good musicians. I want a good singer. It’s a check on all of the above here. Style-wise, this is pretty much a sister-album to the debut so if you dug that one, you’ll dig this one too – and vice versa. This record contains the odd filler or two and as a whole, the debut is slightly better but I’d recommend this record to fans of this kind of Hard Rock in a heartbeat. It might not be the album of the year, but it’s nevertheless a damn fine record.
7/10
More Joel Hoeckstra’s 13 reviews:
Tracklist:
1. Finish Line
2. I’m Gonna Lose It
3. Hard To Say Goodbye
4. How Do You
5. Heart Attack
6. Fantasy
7. Lonely Days
8. Reach The Sky
9. Cried Enough For You
10. Take What’s Mine
11. Running Games
CD & Festival reviews 