With all the popularity of EDM in Las Vegas over the last decade or so it would be easy for people to be unaware of the great bands Sin City has to offer, Among the best of those in the Vegas rock scene is Cyanide. Cyanide’s main musical architect is singer Rob Hussey, 21 Gun Salute is Cyanide’s second album and Rob wrote and performed the songs on the record with a varied cast of guest lead guitar players.
For anyone who misses the early days of Mötley Crüe you’ll find a lot to love in this band, The influence of that band on Rob’s music is front and center but with enough of his own twist on it to keep things fresh.
The album starts off with a short lead in called “Is Everybody High?” Before going in to the albums first proper song “Fireball” and the party starts, Rob’s voice sounds like early Vince Neil. This song just charges with the riffs and Incendiary leads courtesy of Stryper guitarist Oz Fox, There’s a live feel to this song that gives me flashbacks to great nights at Counts Vamp’d. As a former Vegas resident I have to say there’s a vibe to the rock scene there that is it’s own thing and if you’ve experienced it you can definitely hear it in Rob’s music.
“Back The Fuck Off” features guest lead guitar playing from Counts 77’s bluesy hard rock axe master John Zito, What a treat it is to have this band and John on the same track. Mid tempo heavy riffs that mean business charge while galloping drums drive behind Rob’s singing. John plays a great solo here but I feel it got a little buried in the mix and was a bit overpowered by the rhythm.
“21 Gun Salute” is the sort of sunset strip sleazy and strutting anthem that Mötley Crüe made their name on, The riffs and drums groove as Rob celebrates and gives a tip of the hat to the brave men and women of the armed forces. Beyond this being a great tribute to the soldiers it’s also just a fantastic rock n roll anthem, I bet this one gets a big pop with the crowd at their shows.
“Never Let Me Go” changes the pace with a ballad, Clean playing and strings start things off and there’s an excellent lead by Armored Saint’s Jeff Duncan. This sounds straight out of the playbook of earlier Mötley Crüe, It’s a decent enough ballad but I think it could benefit from a bit more lift at the chorus.
“Sweet Little Trash” Brings John Zito back into the mix on an absolutely blazing rocker, This one is like Mötley Crüe meets Winger but a lot more street level. And man is that solo from Zito excellent. One of my favorites on the album.
“Slip N Slide” is full tilt Girls, Girls, Girls era Crüe, A straight up hard rocking sleazy track that would fit perfectly on that album. This song just rocks with total rock n roll fire the whole way through and features a great guitar solo by Keith Robert.
“Get Up And Dance” is like Look What The Cat Dragged In era Poison meets What Comes Around Goes Around era Tuff, All the party of glam metal but with a bit more grit. This song is just flat out fun and has a gang vocal chorus you’ll be shouting along to. Definitely one of the best songs on the album and by far the most fun.
“We Want You” is a faux advertisement/call to arms lead in to “Rock N Roll Army” which is an absolutely scorching banger of a track, Rob’s vocals are vicious on this song which is fitting for how hard diving and incendiary this song is. This is less a call to action than it is a declaration of war in sonic form. The Vegas scene is a rock n roll army and you can feel it in this song, Especially for those of us who have been a part of it. Las Vegas hard rock at its finest is what you have in this song.
“As The World Burns” Feels like something Judas Priest would’ve recorded for their Jugulator album, A much heavier song than the rest up to this point. There’s an absolutely savage guitar solo by Jeremy Varao on this song.
“Social Media Disease” continues the assault with a metal meets a slight hardcore punk sound.
“Take What You Want” goes in the heavier glam metal territory of Vain, It’s heavy but it’s also very catchy and has a chorus you’ll be shouting along to.
“I Love You” closes out the album with a love song, Which could’ve been a risky choice as you always want to go out on a high but this is actually a very good song. It’s paced perfectly and I think everything works here, The guitar playing is excellent, The drums and bass drive and enrich the tempo, Rob’s vocals are on point for the story he’s telling. Of the two ballads on this album this is by far the superior one.
Every musician is a product of their influences and it’s not hard to see Mötley Crüe are a big influence on Rob Hussey. But he takes that influence, Combines it with others and has done his own thing with it. I have to give Rob a lot of credit here, he sang and performed most of the instruments on this record and that is very impressive. Every guest that played on this record added some great nuance to the songs and there’s a lot of great guitar solos here.
21 Gun Salute is a great album of straight up rock n roll, Sunset Strip influenced, But straight up Vegas hard rock that does the scene proud.
8/10