"Slave" - Review
By Ealasaid

This humble reviewer was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Zhenya's upcoming solo album, "Slave," along with a request from Mr. Rock to give an honest opinion, even if it turned out to be negative.

Well, no fear on that count, folks.   This is a  solid album, full of the intricate guitar work and alternately meditative and silly vocals we've come to expect from the Z-man.  It is separate from his work with the Elvises, and although you can tell it's by Zhenya, it's clearly not a Red Elvises album.  It's cool to hear Zhenya on his own, and interesting to compare his work on "Slave" to his Red work.

These songs are about people who live in the real world, rather than one filled with red-eyed women and space cowboys and Jesus phones people up to ask them to dance.  The instrumental lines are more restrained, for the most part, and the topics of the songs more mainstream.  It's a different sound from what we Elvises fans are used to, and it's good stuff.

I'm not even going to attempt a song-by-song breakdown, but I'll hit the high points.

"Slave," the title song, is a lovely, almost delicate piece declaring an overwhelming passion for the listener.  With lyrics like "you're the drug I always crave / I will die to be with you," the song is fairly mainstream, but the beautiful guitar work and Zhenya's vocals mark it indelibly as our beloved Mr. Rock's and set it above the stuff I keep hearing on the radio.

The fifth track, "Everyone is a Clown" is a rockin' song with a killer bass line that makes you want to shake your booty.  The lyrics are nihilistic and angry.  The chorus, which runs:

Hell yeah, I'm coming down.
Hell yeah, it's a crash
What do you care?  It's all the same.
Everyone is a clown.

…sort of sums it all up.  This is one that must sound fantastic live.

"California Sun" sounds fairly ordinary, with a meditative vocal melody and a mellow guitar line, but the lyrics are reminiscent of some of the more surreal songs by the Red Elvises, working their way through a variety of people and animals who are gay – as in happy.

California sun melting my brain
Think I'm gonna stay for one more day
Palm trees are gay
They're straight but they're gay
This woman is gay 'cause she's smiling a little too much today

It's a good song to make you smile a little yourself.

"The Couch," which closes the album, is a good wrap-up piece.  A quiet song with soft acoustic guitar and meditative vocals, it's a snapshot of a night after a fight.  In spite of the unhappiness, there's also a ray of hope; there's conflict between the two people, but at the same time, there's the possibility of things turning out all right.  It leaves us on a note just happy enough without being over the top.

But hey, it's all right.
I'm sleeping on your couch tonight.
Hey, it's okay.
Tomorrow is a brand new day.

This is a good album, and a good bit different from the other work we've heard from Zhenya in the past.  It may not be every Red Elvises Fan's cup of tea, but it is this one's.