1.) “Situation” – This track opens with a single electric guitar riff intro section.  There is without a doubt as soon as you hear the vibrato & sustain of the guitar you will know who the guitarist and band is and will be.  Mark’s blues playing style is like no others that I have ever heard including the greats.  There is a small Jimi Hendrex lead guitar effect connecting the two intro sections together.  The main intro section consisted of the entire band and was very reminiscent to the stuff the band was musically writing on their ‘Psycho City’ release, released December 21, 1999.  There is a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the main musical intro section.  Mark doesn’t change the rhythm guitar riffs of the verse so much as he brings the rhythm down.  Though Jack is ten years older than me which makes him 4-something (Damn Jack we’re getting too old for this shit…) he sounds as good vocally today as he did on their ‘self-titled’ release released in March 1984.  After the second lyric line there is a small rhythm guitar change.  The last lyric of this verse was double tracked by Jack to give it a backing harmony feel.  There was a huge Great White attached hook to the chorus.  Mark plays a simple lead guitar riff to connect the first chorus with the second verse.  After the second chorus there is are a couple small lead guitar licks that connect the main musical chorus to the breakdown.  This breakdown section is the first time you can actually hear backing vocals other than Jacks.  The first, second, and even third time through listening to the lead guitar solo Mark wrote for this song, I literally thought, what the hell?!?  He can play better notes in his sleep!  However Mark accomplished what he sat out to do.  Play something very simple that works!  After the third chorus there is a second major lead guitar solo section.  There is a small lead vocal line over the top of that lead into the fourth chorus.  There is a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the outro. 
2.) “All Or Nothin’” –The intro of this track consisted of an Angus Young influenced guitar riff.  Mark alters the arrangement just a little for the opening musical chorus.  Because there are several musical rests within the guitar arrangement it puts the main focus on Audie’s drum.  Just for a second listen to the sound he gets from his snare drum.  For the musical verse Mark alters the rhythm guitar riffs.  Jack kicks the verse off with a vocals accent.  The lyrical arrangement opens with a short lyrical verse this is the first time that you really get to hear Great White’s sweet backing vocals.  There is a small rhythm guitar change for the musical verse.  In the way the rhythm guitar was arranged makes the main focus of the musical verse vocals and drums.  Scott’s bass line follows Mark’s guitar note for note.  For the last note before the musical rest Scott slides down the neck of his bass this adds a nice effect to the arrangement.  For the pre-chorus Michael Lardie kicks in with an underling second rhythm guitar riff.  So for the pre-chorus you have both Mark and Michael playing except their playing two different guitar rhythms.  For the second verse Mark and Scott switch the rhythm up to where the bass line is in between the lead guitar rhythms.  For the rhythm of the second verse Mark strung together more lead guitar licks than an actual rhythm.  This gave the song a classic Great White feel.  After the second chorus there is a breakdown second.  The breakdown section leads into the lead guitar solo.  After the lead guitar solo the chorus is repeated for the through the outro.  
3.) “I Don’t Mind” –The intro to this track opens with a percussion section consisting of conga drums and a hi-hat rhythm.  About one measure into Audie’s percussion section Michael begins playing a simple keyboard arrangement.  This Keyboard arrangement along with the conga drum section gives the song an early eighties REO Speedwagon sound.  Mark’s rhythm guitar riffs that are over the top of the keyboard are mainly there as fill-in.  For the musical verse Mark switches the guitar rhythm to an almost Rod Stewart late seventies disco rhythm.  Underneath the vocal lines Mark switches to a rhythm that follows Michael’s keyboard arrangement.  There is a small drum fill and rhythm change connecting the verse to the chorus.  There is a few Mark Kendall lead licks underneath the lyric lines of the first chorus.  To add a little ambience to the second verse the band incorporated an orchestrated section.  The lead guitar solo for this track starts off slow then as Jacks says “stretch it out.”  There is a minor solo underneath the last chorus of the outro section.      
4.) “Shine” – This track opens with a rhythm guitar riff over the top of an Audie snare fill.  About two measures intro the intro Audie switches from the snare fill to a tom-tom pattern.  It is at this point the band not only adds a second guitar rhythm however the band also incorporate a minor lead guitar solo.  Audie kicks-in the main drum line at this point which is a sixteenth-note hi-hat pattern.  This pattern really gives the song a disco sound.  Because of the musical rest within Mark & Michael guitar arrangement the bass line is really aloud to bleed through.  The way the guys arranged the lyrics and music gives the song a late seventies Rod Stewart feel.  Connecting the pre-verse with the verse and then with the chorus there is a small harmonic section.  The backing vocals of this track are amazing!!!  There is a small drum fill that connects the first chorus with the second verse.  There is a small breakdown section connecting the third chorus with the lead guitar solo.  The lead guitar solo was arranged and played as if two different guitarists played it. 
5.) “Loveless” – There is a small minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro section.  As the intro progresses the underling rhythm guitar slowly changes to a keyboard riff.  Mark just kind of lays back through the verse playing simple chords.  There is a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  The hook is Jacks vocal lines.  From beginning to end this is just a very simple well structured Great White song!     
6.) “It’s Not Enough” – The intro to this track opens with a small Audie snare fill.  The main intro section had a much laid back Great White feel.  All in the intro was very reminiscent to the stuff they were writing on ‘Sail Away’.  The main instrumentation underneath the lead vocal lines of the verse is drums and bass with Mark & Michael mainly choarding a rhythm.  There is a small acoustic rhythm guitar change for the musical pre-chorus.  This rhythm change follows along with Jack’s vocal lines.  The chorus was written with a huge Great White hook attached to it.  The second verse was very similar to the verse outside of the keyboard arrangement.  Underneath the vocal lines of the second chorus Mark breaks away from the main rhythm and plays a minor lead guitar solo.  After the third chorus there is a small breakdown section that leads into a Mark Kendall lead guitar solo. 
7.) “Last Chance” – This track opens with an Audie drum fill.  The main intro section of this ballad had a very laid back feel to it.  Michael used a Church organ effect for his keyboard which gave the musical arrangement a very nice sound.  The band changes the arrangement for the musical verse using an acoustic guitar & regular keyboard effect.  In the way the guys arranged the music and lyrics of the verse of this track made the song very reminiscent of the stuff they were writing on sail away.  There is a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  It also sounded like some of Jack’s lead vocal lines were double tracked.  There is a small drum fill connecting the second chorus and musical change that leads into the solo.  Mark kept his lead guitar solo very short on this song.   
8.) “Danger Zone” – The intro of this track was heavily influenced by the seventies.  There is a small rhythm change between the intro and verse.  As the verse progresses you can kind of hear it build to the explosion hook of the chorus.  To me Jack’s vocals were very reminiscent of his early material.  Musically and lyrically this type of song was a day in the park for band.  I loved the break-down section of this track!!!!!    
9.) “Down On The Level” –The Audie drum rhythm that opens this intro section had a heavy funk feel to it.  The main intro was laced with a fusion of funk/blues, or in other words R&B.  Over the top of the musical intro section there is a horn section.  I was in many was taken aback by this since I do not believe they’ve never used one.  There is a small rhythm guitar change connecting the into to the musical verse.  However for the musical verse Mark switches it again.  In the way the guys wrote the musical verse puts the main focus of the song on Audie and Scott.  As the musical verse progresses Scott alters his bass line.  The verse is right out of a ‘Once Bitten’ fake book.  Instead of altering the rhythm for the musical chorus the band brought back the horn section.  After the second chorus there is a breakdown section this breakdown section lead into a classic ‘Hooked’ Kendall solo.
10.) “Only You Can Do” – There is an acoustic guitar arrangement over the top of this intro section.  Mark alters the sound of his acoustic for the musical verse to an almost mandolin sound.  The musical verse was done with mainly acoustic guitar, drums and bass.  As the arrangement progresses the guys continue to add instruments back into the song along with altering and tweaking the arrangement.  This track all in all has a very laid back mellow feel to it.    
11.) “My Sanctuary” – This track opens with a Church organ.  Over the top of the main intro there is a small harmonica section.  The band changed the arrangement to for the musical verse.  The verse for this track was heavily influenced if not left over by the band’s ‘sail Away’ release. The chorus was kept very short and simple.  For Great White it is songs like this, which sound like they walked into the studio with a blank page and just started writing, are the best Great White songs. 

     Since the band’s formation in Los Angeles back in ‘78, there have been two things consistent with Great White; outside of die-hard hard rock fans they’ve pretty much receive 0 respect, and for one reason or another they cannot hold onto a bassist.  That alone shows the songwriting and musicianship this band has!
     This release marks Great Whites twelfth release and with everything that has happen to the name Great White since ‘78 I cannot think of a more fitting CD title than ‘Rising’. Every band hits their peak I don’t care who they are, you will hit that peak musically. Coming from a fan since ‘Shot In The Dark’ I have always said Great White hit that musical peak with ‘Psycho City’. Now that is not saying that everything they’ve released since is no good. In fact, Great White has never release what you could actually call a bad CD. Though it still is early in the year mark my word ‘Rising’ will rank up there with the top five releases not only for 2009 however, will go down as a Great White fan favorite! If you are a fan of great Rock –n- Roll then this is an absolute must have!!!