Album Review: “This Is How We Roll” by Down ‘n’ Outz

Down ‘N’ Outz are an English rock band comprised of vocalist Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), guitarists Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin (The Quireboys), bassist Share Ross (Vixen), drummer Phil Martini (Wayward Sons), and keyboardist Keith Weir (The Quireboys). “This is How We Roll “ is the perfect title for the latest work of these talents musicians. In contrast to their previous releases,  “This is How We Roll“ includes 11 original tunes along with one cover.

The tone of the album was set with a killer piano intro on the song, “Another Man’s War”. The title track and single is a showcase for Paul and Guy’s monster guitar skills. Guy Griffin has even said, “This Is How We Roll” is “One of the best records I’ve worked on”. The album has a softer side with songs like “Goodnight Mr. Jones” and “Last Man Standing” but maintains  high entertainment value and musical excellence. 

I found “Music Box” to be a really great addition to the record because it had very well-layered instrumentation. The track was very different from most of the other songs on the album, but it still flowed nicely. The catchy melody of “Boys Don’t Cry” grabs your attention and this song has no lack of guitar geniusness either. The album is very piano-oriented which is something that makes sense after hearing Guy mention that Joe’s writing has been heavily influenced by Elton John. The only cover on “This Is How We Roll” is “White Punks On Dope”, originally performed by Tubes. Bassist Share Ross said she really enjoyed playing on that song especially and I could tell that when I listened to it. To conclude, this album was a lot different than what I expected to see from Joe Elliott and his incredible band, different in the most amazing way.