The Winery Dogs: Unleashed In Japan

All-star power trio’s new live album, plus their 2013 debut.

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Of the many supergroups launched in recent years, The Winery Dogs is one of the more unlikely alliances, featuring hair metal veterans Billy Sheehan (ex-Mr Big) and Richie Kotzen (ex-Poison) alongside a modern prog hero, former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy.

And yet, on their self-titled debut album, they worked together brilliantly, blending 70s heavy rock influences with a modern, post-grunge feel. Now, that debut is included as a bonus disc with a live album named in tribute to Judas Priest’s legendary Unleashed In The East.

The Dogs’ originals are tightly powerful – Elevate especially so. But they also get loose on crowd-pleasing versions of Poison’s Stand and Elvin Bishop’s 70s hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love. Like Chickenfoot, this is a supergroup that likes to have fun.

Paul Elliott
Paul Elliott

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”