This is the second part of  TOMMY BOLIN 's collection  Whips And Roses II , featuring previously unreleased tracks, which strengthen the belief that this young man - sadly enough, departed too early - had an exceptional sentimental approach as a guitarist, vocalist and composer.  TOMMY 's talent is something self - evident, if you just listen to these 2 albums ( Whips And Roses part I & II ), combined with the fact that he served as Mr.  Blackmore 's replacement when he departed from the purplest space ship in the deepest galaxy of rock music.  

Nowadays SPV has compiled this second  BOLIN  album,  Whips And Roses 2 . All of the featured songs on  Whips And Roses 2  can be considered are either alternative versions of his previous work and recordings or previously unreleased material from studio sessions, which were considered to have been lost for a long period of time.

 BOLIN 's solo albums,  Teaser  and  Private Eyes , which came out shortly before and after  DEEP PURPLE  s   Come Taste The Band  are considered to be 70's rock classics. After a devastating show with  Jeff Beck  in Florida,  TOMMY  soon passed away but his short musical journey has left us with a great after - taste of just how big his status was, and how he would have changed the style of rock music if he was still in life.  TOMMY  may find a place among the other guitar titan (mostly of the 70's) in the likes of  Jimi Hendrix ,  Jeff Beck ,  Jimmy Page ,  Eric Clapton  and  Toni Iommi , after all.

There is a diffuse melancholy floating in the air when you listen to this piece of music and maybe someone may feel sorry and pity for the loss of such a talent. The listener though, finally manages to compensate with the negative feelings, by the overflowing emotions, which come out upon listening to  TOMMY 's ideas and phrases.

Producer  Greg Hampton  has made very serious efforts to ensure that the  Whips And Roses  compilations are unquestionably the best sounding  TOMMY BOLIN  releases up to now.  Whips And Roses part I  is slightly better and sounds more complete and full, compared to part II but on the other hand this album manages to deliver  TOMMY 's message with passion, style and unique character as well.

One of the drawbacks of this CD is also the fact that there is not enough information about certain dates, places or more stuff about the album or  TOMMY  himself. Both  Whips And Roses  albums could serve the purpose of an interesting introduction for all those music or guitar lovers, who have the curiosity and anticipation to dig into the  sound of 70's guitar based rock and magical touch and talent of  TOMMY BOLIN .

Highlights of this album can be considered - amongst the other - the following ones:  Crazed Fandango ,  People People ,  Homeward Strut  and  Tommy's Got Da Blues .