Jeff LaBar - One For The Road

Still no new Cinderella record, but it seems that yet another quality side-project from one its members is coming out soon.

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"No Strings", the new solo video from CINDERELLA guitarist Jeff LaBar, can be seen below. The clip was directed by James Erdman and features drummer Matthew Arnn, Jeff's son, guitarist Sebastian LaBar, and bassist Jasmine Cain.

"No Strings" was recorded with TESLA drummer Troy Luccketta and was mixed by CINDERELLA drummer Fred Coury. It is taken from Jeff's solo debut, "One For The Road", which will be released on August 26 through Rat Pak Records. Tracks on the seven-song CD. which features additional mixing of Chris Collier, range from classic, early CINDERELLA-style hard rock, to groove-laden blues rock, and everything in between. Jeff not only sings on this release, but also does a fantastic job of capturing the magic and spirit of the classic genre he helped create.

"I wrote 'No Strings' following my first marriage and subsequent divorce," LaBar tells Ultimate Classic Rock. "The relationship was awesome; the breakup, not so much."

In a June 2013 interview with Legendary Rock Interviews, LaBar stated about his upcoming solo album: "The way it started was, I've been threatening to do a solo album or years and at the end of [the summer 2012] CINDERELLA tour, my tour manager Larry Morand and my wife Debi called me on it. They said, Look, Tom's [Keifer, CINDERELLA frontman] solo album is coming out this spring, he'll probably tour on it through the summer. Now is the time, Jeff. It's time to get in the studio and start putting your money where your mouth is.' So, that's what I've been doing."

Asked how the direction of his solo material is different from what he has done with CINDERELLA, Jeff said: "The first song I recorded could have been a CINDERELLA song, I think, but you know when you get guitar players putting out solo records, from what I've seen, they are very self-indulgent in terms of guitar playing or even sometimes, they're instrumental records. Mine is self-indulgent in the sense that it will cover a lot of different types of music. The first song I did is called 'No Strings' and like I said, it's a rock song, it could be a CINDERELLA song. The second song I recorded is a total blues waltz/shuffle. The latest song I've done is almost like a FLEETWOOD MAC-type ballad. I've also written a slow, chunky metal song, a blues slide song and a flat-out metal burner, fast song so I think I am really trying to explore all of my different influences. It's all me singing and playing everything but drums."

Asked if he enjoys singing, Jeff said: "Absolutely, I've been singing all my life. Since I started playing guitar at the age of nine or ten, I was also singing, sitting in my bedroom with [LED] ZEPPELIN and BEATLES songbooks. I didn't just learn how to play the songs I loved, but I learned how to sing 'em too. I actually started out as a drummer and aspired to be a guitar player, and then when I became a guitar player, I aspired to be a singer. [laughs] I got the chance to do a lot of background vocals over the years in CINDERELLA, but make no mistake, I see myself and believe in myself as a singer."

Sounds quite good. Pretty much everything these guys have done outside of Cinderella—Naked Beggars, Freakshow, Tom's solo album—has been really good. Shame they can't get together and record a proper Cinderella record. Clearly they're all still capable of writing quality hard rock.

I'm impressed.

I was not excepting much, but I enjoyed that track

His voice sounds much different here compared to his backing vocals for Cinderella. Not bad at all. I still think he probably would have been better off getting a singer with a bigger range, and while singing on just a few tracks himself, but I look forward to hearing this.

I like it. I like all the different styles.

Hard to NOT compare it to Tom's album, but I think this one ought to be pretty good too. Looking forward to hearing it.

Cool.

I doubt we'll ever see another Cinderella album.

ultmetal wrote:

Cool.

I doubt we'll ever see another Cinderella album.

Probably not, but we can always hope can't we?    They should regroup and record an album as "The Cinderfellas".   

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Cool.

I doubt we'll ever see another Cinderella album.

Probably not, but we can always hope can't we?    They should regroup and record an album as "The Cinderfellas".   

I really wish they would just release all those badass demos from before Night Songs. There is easily two albums' worth of GREAT material.

It kinda has the Ace Frehley "can't sing , don't care" vibe.

Bump. Looks like this album is out now. Don't suppose anyone's heard it yet, have they?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Looks like this album is out now. Don't suppose anyone's heard it yet, have they?

Nope. Shoot, I haven't even heard Keifer's album yet.

Eyesore wrote:

I really wish they would just release all those badass demos from before Night Songs. There is easily two albums' worth of GREAT material.

I'd be all over that. Especially if they included the legendary "Pat's Dogs" commercial jingle.

There's only 7 songs on this thing!

http://www.amazon.com/One-For-Road-Jeff-LaBar/dp/B00LVFH6Y6

Samples sound good, though. But maybe too mellow.

Eyesore wrote:

There's only 7 songs on this thing!

http://www.amazon.com/One-For-Road-Jeff-LaBar/dp/B00LVFH6Y6

Samples sound good, though. But maybe too mellow.

Wow. And 2 of those would appear to be short instrumentals. So it's more like an ep. I guess I'll wait and get this one on the cheap.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

There's only 7 songs on this thing!

http://www.amazon.com/One-For-Road-Jeff-LaBar/dp/B00LVFH6Y6

Samples sound good, though. But maybe too mellow.

Wow. And 2 of those would appear to be short instrumentals. So it's more like an ep. I guess I'll wait and get this one on the cheap.

Damn. Didn't even notice the song lengths. Yeah, screw that. Even with Amazon Prime, $10 is too much for five "real" songs.

And again, why didn't he dip into the Cinderella archives for a few more tunes? These guys are dopes, I swear!

The old songs must be wrapped up in legal red-tape. It's the only logical explanation. Or yea, maybe they are just dopes.

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The old songs must be wrapped up in legal red-tape. It's the only logical explanation. Or yea, maybe they are just dopes.

It seems likely that he wouldn't want to use old Cinderella songs that he didn't write on a personal solo project.

That said, why this being marketed as a solo album is beyond me; it has the length and content of an EP if you take out the two instrumentals.

Here's my breakdown of it:


"No Strings"--a good opening song, and his voice works well on it. There are some nice leads on this track too.

"Asking for a Beating"--starts off with a cool riff, but then just kind of plods along for the remaining four minutes. The chorus is really weak on this one.

"Muse"--pointless acoustic instrumental.

"Hello or Goodbye"--not a bad acoustic song. The chorus is just mediocre, and Jeff's voice doesn't help it much.

"Ode to Page"--another acoustic instrumental; the bizarre thing is that "Muse" actually sounds more like Jimmy Page than this one. I suppose it is not hard to imagine Jimmy jamming out something similar to either of these during one of Zeppelin's mini-acoustic sets though.

"Nightmare on My Street"--heaviest song on the album. I actually like this song a lot, it just lacks some power in the vocals. If Tom Keifer was doing guest vocals on this song it would be great.

"One for the Road"--a slower blues-based song, like something you'd expect from 90's Great White. It's a cool song.

As an EP without the instrumentals I would give this 6.5/10; as it stands I give a 2/10 for trying to pass it off and sell it as a full solo album.

glassprison wrote:

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The old songs must be wrapped up in legal red-tape. It's the only logical explanation. Or yea, maybe they are just dopes.

It seems likely that he wouldn't want to use old Cinderella songs that he didn't write on a personal solo project.

That said, why this being marketed as a solo album is beyond me; it has the length and content of an EP if you take out the two instrumentals.

Here's my breakdown of it:


"No Strings"--a good opening song, and his voice works well on it. There are some nice leads on this track too.

"Asking for a Beating"--starts off with a cool riff, but then just kind of plods along for the remaining four minutes. The chorus is really weak on this one.

"Muse"--pointless acoustic instrumental.

"Hello or Goodbye"--not a bad acoustic song. The chorus is just mediocre, and Jeff's voice doesn't help it much.

"Ode to Page"--another acoustic instrumental; the bizarre thing is that "Muse" actually sounds more like Jimmy Page than this one. I suppose it is not hard to imagine Jimmy jamming out something similar to either of these during one of Zeppelin's mini-acoustic sets though.

"Nightmare on My Street"--heaviest song on the album. I actually like this song a lot, it just lacks some power in the vocals. If Tom Keifer was doing guest vocals on this song it would be great.

"One for the Road"--a slower blues-based song, like something you'd expect from 90's Great White. It's a cool song.

As an EP without the instrumentals I would give this 6.5/10; as it stands I give a 2/10 for trying to pass it off and sell it as a full solo album.

Well, an EP can be a solo album. An EP is an album after all, and I don't think they tried to fool anyone into thinking it was a full-length.

I listened to this on Spotify. Musically, I quite enjoyed it. I don't, however, like his vocals much. If he had another singer on here (doesn't need to be Keifer--I'm not trying to make him try and do a Cinderella record for his solo album), it'd be better and I'd probably be into buying it.

One thing though, if I am hearing the lyrics to "Asking for a Beating" correctly, it's about a woman. So...that doesn't really sit well with me.

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One thing though, if I am hearing the lyrics to "Asking for a Beating" correctly, it's about a woman. So...that doesn't really sit well with me.

Hmmmm, pretty ballsy to write a song about beating your gal. Did Chris Brown co-write this?

I guess I didn't interpret it quite that literally, as it's kind of hard to imagine him supporting that kind of thing; but either way, definitely not very cool lyrics.

glassprison wrote:

I guess I didn't interpret it quite that literally, as it's kind of hard to imagine him supporting that kind of thing; but either way, definitely not very cool lyrics.

I haven't heard the song myself, but could it possibly be like Alice Cooper's 'Only Women Bleed'? Easy to misinterpret upon first glance, but maybe there's a deeper, hidden meaning? I dunno.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

I listened to this on Spotify. Musically, I quite enjoyed it. I don't, however, like his vocals much. If he had another singer on here (doesn't need to be Keifer--I'm not trying to make him try and do a Cinderella record for his solo album), it'd be better and I'd probably be into buying it.

One thing though, if I am hearing the lyrics to "Asking for a Beating" correctly, it's about a woman. So...that doesn't really sit well with me.

What if it's about Nancy Grace?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

glassprison wrote:

I guess I didn't interpret it quite that literally, as it's kind of hard to imagine him supporting that kind of thing; but either way, definitely not very cool lyrics.

I haven't heard the song myself, but could it possibly be like Alice Cooper's 'Only Women Bleed'? Easy to misinterpret upon first glance, but maybe there's a deeper, hidden meaning? I dunno.

I listened to the song this morning on the way to work, just to make sure I wasn't unjustly throwing out any negative vibes. Yeah, I don't see any other way to hear the lyrics that are coming out of his mouth. Definitely about a girl. Definitely involves a not-that-great-sounding relationship. Definitely says she's asking for a beating.