Artist:     Cactus

Album:     Tightrope

Label:     Purple Pyramid Records/Cleopatra Records

Release Date:     4.2.21

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The old proto-metal power company known as Cactus still has some juice. Jolts of heavy, blues-rock electricity have again awakened the sleeping giant, as the influential ‘70s arena-rock juggernaut presses legendary drummer Carmine Appice back into duty for an explosive mission code named Tightrope, their first since the Black Dawn LP of 2016.

Hauling semi loads of shaking, hard-rock boogie and churn to and fro, like the staggered, swinging wrecking ball of a title track, a sunny, Southern-accented “Third Time Gone” and the shuffling, bluesy “Headed for a Fall,” Tightrope is typical Cactus, its trailers still emblazoned with “The American Led Zeppelin” tag Appice and company heartily embraced long ago. The ponderous, start-stop rhythms and massive riffs of a wolfishly sexy “Primitive Touch” are practically spray-painted with Physical Graffiti, as Cactus’ latest vehicle grinds its gears with intricate, hard-hitting drumming machinery, Randy Pratt’s harmonica wheezing and the scratchy, wildcat howls of vocalist Jimmy Kunes.

Detours are taken occasionally with the reconfigured Cactus – now featuring James Caputo on bass and Paul Warren on lead guitar/vocals, with special appearances here from original guitarist Jim McCarty and singer Phil Naro. They pull off the road to crawl through the smoky darkness of the slow-motion power ballad “Poison in Paradise” and project the cinematic, progressive evolution of “Suite 1 & 2: Everlong, All the Madmen” across a wide expanse. And while Vanilla Fudge, one of Appice’s other bands, had the market cornered on lugubrious, psychedelic covers of contemporary hits of the day in the late ‘60s, Cactus is just as crafty at reimagining the classics, transforming “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” into a big, swaggering rogue of a song that emits smoggy, golden radiance and grit with its growling, biting guitars and solar-powered wah-wah effects. A little more imagination and originality would do Cactus a world of good, but the precision and vigor of their playing makes Tightrope worth a walk.

—Peter Lindblad