Album Review - Coldplay

Coldplay

Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends

2008 Capital/EMI Records

Grade: A

GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.6

By: Brent Owen

I am secure enough in my manhood to openly admit that I really enjoy Coldplay and I always have really. Admittedly, in my mind they peaked with their 2002 opus A Rush of Blood to the Head, but that doesn’t mean I don’t continue to eagerly anticipate each pending effort with baited breath. Alas here we have it, the much anticipated Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends. I’m glad to hardily say that: happily that this eclipses their mediocre (at best) 2005 release X&Y, a record that contained only a handful of decent songs and one of which was a hidden track tacked on to the end of the album.

But alas, with the help of the incomparable producer Brian Eno, Coldplay has returned to the looser, more urgent sound of their earlier releases. While X&Y felt polished with a thick coat veneer over each an every note, Viva La Vida feels slightly less controlled…in a good way. As if around any corner one might hear a skipped beat or a wrong note and even if such imperfections never pop up, it’s just nice to think that they might. Now the band certainly doesn’t feel as unhinged and raw as it did on A Rush… but it seems like a nice swing back toward that unfettered direction.

Chris Martin’s voice also seems much more impassioned than it did throughout most of the X&Y snooze-fest. He sounds vibrant, excited, and jovial – not forlorn, miserable, and weary as he did last time around. And his signature piano playing has returned after briefly being replaced by churning keyboards and generic synthesizers. It’s neat to hear a band experiment as they did last time out, but it’s even better to hear them return to what they’re best at once said experiment unmistakably fails.

Lyrically Martin seems to have also returned to the poignant simplicity that he trademarked on the band’s first two albums. “42” is absolutely a highlight, here Martin sings effectively: “For those who are dead, I’m not dead; I’m just living in my head”. And on the chorus he almost taunts his own ghosts when he sings: “You didn’t get to heaven but you made it close”. Then there is a song like “Reign of Love” where Martin’s voice sings with a sad fervor such effortless lyrics as: “Oh, I wish you had spoken up”. This moment of vulnerability hits almost as hard as when he sang the equally straightforward but compelling lyrics: “Take me back to the start” in the band’s classic song “The Scientist”.

While a lot of this album is a return to what the band does best, the swirling guitars on a song like “Yes” shows a band that is still not afraid to experiment outside their comfort zone. In fact this record generally focuses more on the band as a cohesive unit more than any of their previous efforts – Martin is not necessarily on full display from beginning to end here. Sometimes it takes a record like this to be reminded us of how talented each member of the band really is; and that the success or failure of the band does not rely on the most recognizable member, alone.

Eno has perfectly rubbed away some of the polish while still allowing one of the biggest bands in the world to make an appropriately grandiose album. It’s a difficult balance that in lesser hands could have failed. In fact in the Coldplay’s catalogue I have to say that Viva La Vida is second only to the untouchable A Rush of Blood to the Head. For the first time I see the band truly proclaiming itself as an honest musical alliance where everyone’s contribution is an integral part. With Viva La Vida, Coldplay has finally reached the stratosphere where they can justifiably be placed next to other beloved Brit-outfits like The Cure, Radiohead, and The Smiths. Those are bold words, I know; but I have faith in Chris Martin and his comrades.

Previous Albums:

X&Y (2005)

Live 2003 (2003)

A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Parachutes (2000)

Concert Review: Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

6/20/2008 Bennett Gordon Hall at Ravinia Festival Grounds, Highland Park, IL

Grade: Americana at it’s finest…

By: Brent Owen

It’s safe to say that there are few singers as prolific as ol’ Willie. There are few singers as resilient as ol’ Willie. And there are few singers as universally recognizable as ol’ Willie. All of these reasons and many more are exactly why everyone should see Willie at least once…he’s an institution. He hasn’t changed in fifty years and probably won’t change for another fifty years because with Willie it’s simply a case of getting what you get.

If nothing else, spending a night with Willie’s songs is kinda like spending a night with old friends. Nights which usually end up filled with lots of drinking, smoking, and pining over lost loves – but then again, what are old friends for?

Nelson takes the stage with his road wary band while the sun is still up. Most of these guys have been with him since at least the mid-70’s; the only exception would be the recent addition of a couple of his children to the line-up: his son is playing guitar and his daughter sings back-up. But once he breaks in to the opening song, his classic “Whiskey River”, it’s apparent how well this band knows each other, they tear these songs out like they were born playing them. And Willie’s familiar voice wraps around you with the comfort of your grandmother’s quilt.

The band then continued to rip through the many of the countless gems in Willie’s catalogue, at a break-neck pace. They did faithful renditions of “On the Road Again”, “Always On My Mind”, “Ain’t It Funny How Time Slips Away”, “Crazy”, and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”. Willie also played some of his favorite duets “Whiskey for My Men (beer for my horses)”, “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys”, and “Good Hearted Woman (in love with a good timin’ man), of course these were sung without his partners Toby Keith and Waylon J

ennings respectively. But at 75, Nelson still has the uncanny ability to sing each song as if a day hasn’t passed since their initial recording. His voice is still affectingly thin and sweet, a

nd yet there is toughness to it that garners a certain respect from the most rigid of men.

Willie and Co. also have fun tinkering with some great covers throughout the entire set. They tore into a blistering version of the Stevie Ray Vaughn gem “Texas Flood” – it’s truly surprising how well a country legend can do with a blues classic. And when they turned the Hank Williams Sr. classic “Hey Good Lookin’” into an upbeat rock-a-billy number – the energy among everyone in the audience surged almost instantaneously. Finally, the set was closed with the Carter Family classic “May the Circle Be Unbroken” – bringing the show to a satisfying end and reminding us once again that Willie was here before most of us and will probably be here long after all of us.

Album Review - Sigur Ros

Sigur Ros

Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (translation: With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly)

2008 XL Records

Grade: A-

GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.6

By: Brent Owen

The Icelandic collective that is Sigur Ros has become one of the most well respected bands in the industry and they’ve barely sung a word in English. It just goes to show that with albums this good the words don’t matter, because sentiment still seeps through.

The atmospheric feeling of Med Sud… paints countless snapshots of the band’s native land in the mind’s eye. These musical landscapes are so vivid you can almost reach out and touch snow crested hilltops, wind blown plains, and a dusk filled horizon frayed by the rippling tides.

The majestic radiance of this album is that it flows like an opera – from track to track we are taken from movement to movement feeling like someone is singing notes that were written down centuries ago. The perfectly suited crescendo comes with “Ara Butur” where it begins subtly with just a piano and a voice, but slowly and surely the tension builds until the song explodes into an exuberant climax featuring the London Symphony and the choir from the London Oratory School (this track subsequently was recorded in Abbey Road Studios). The album seems to wind itself down from this point – bringing this delightful musical experience to fitting closure.

This truly is a beautiful album and is very affecting in that fact alone, and while it proves that we can be moved without knowing the words – it would be nice to know at least what the words mean. Not that I want them to sing in English, but I wouldn’t mind seeing an English translation of the lyrics in the liner notes. There are times that you want to know if the emotion you pick-up from the song is at all accurate to what the singer is trying to convey.

So ultimately, while this album is touching and gorgeous there is still a part of me that longs to know what these beautiful voices are actually singing about. Beyond that I recommend you put this record on, close your eyes, and take a voyage to unknown lands with Sigur Ros at the helm.

Previous Albums:
Hvarf-Heim (2007)
Takk... (2005)
( ) (2002)
Ágætis Byrjun (1999)
Von (1997)

Shelf Dusting (for the week of 6/22 - 6/28)

Here we remind you of old albums that might have gotten lost in the clutter or have slipped from your mind along the way. So take these records down from the shelf, blow the dust off of them, turn the stereo up, and just push play.

Tom Waits

Closing Time (1973)

Almost without argument, possibly the greatest late night drinking album ever, is contained within the grooves of Waits' debut album. Brooding and miserable, detached and distraught, Tom sings this collection of songs like the saddest lounge lizard in a lounge filled with lizards. You can almost hear the whiskey over his gullet and the empty glass being returned to the piano top as these songs work their way through every intoxicated emotion on Waits' sleeve. This is a record that solely exists on that blurry line between late nights and early mornings.

Rediscover these songs: "Ol' 55", "I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You", "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)", "Midnight Lullaby", "Ice Cream Man", "Little Trip to Heaven (on the wings of your love)", "Grapefruit Moon"

The Lemonheads
Come On Feel The Lemonheads (1993)



The Lemonheads might very well be one of the most under appreciated bands in the recent history. And with that said Come On Feel The Lemonheads might be one of the most overlooked albums in recent history. Usually these guys only get mentioned in the same breath with their defining album, the incendiary 29 minute opus: It's a Shame About Ray. This is the follow-up to Ray and I think is superior in a lot of ways; however it's hard for this album to get out from under it's predecessor's shadow. On Come On Feel The Lemonheads the band is no longer looking at the world as jaded youthful miscreants - now they're just looking at it as jaded miscreants. Also, Evan Dando's voice feels sadder here and there seems to be more emotional complexity throughout the framework of the songs; but this wouldn't be a Lemonheads album if their good sense of humor had evaporated entirely. It's a fine album everyone would benefit giving another spin to.

Rediscover these songs: "Into My Arms", "It's About Time", "Down About It", "Big Gay Heart", "Dawn Can't Decide", "I'll Do It Anyway", "You Can't Take It With You"

Music News 6/23

Weezer and a bunch of Creeps...

NEWS FLASH: Led Zeppelin made a lot of money off of "Stairway to Heaven".

The Brothers Gallagher have three more in 'em!

There might be a Gish Box on Billy's bald mind (that kinda sounds dirty).

Phish...no longer belly up?

Album Leak G'N'R - Chinese Democracy

I don't know if I care about this album anymore...I haven't listened to these leaked tracks but I thought I would offer them up if you have any interest in them.

http://rapidshare.com/files/123556342/Gnr_Studioleak.rar

This link is brought to us thanks to our friends at: God is in the T.V. Zine

Concert Review: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

6/18/2008 - Bennett Gordon Hall at Ravinia Festival Grounds, Highland Park, IL

Grade: Wow

By: Brent Owen

As the lights in the pavilion were dimmed, as the day slowly faded into night, and as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss took the stage; Bennett Gordon Hall was quickly and silently transported to a musical Neverland. Through the soft veil of dusk the band eased into the opening chords of the first song, “Rich Woman.” It became immediately evident that Krauss’ voice was as strong as an ox but as gentle as a lamb – she compliments everything and overpowers nothing. Then there is Robert Plant. The soulful voice of Led Zeppelin was in top form as his mystical voice blended perfectly with the fanciful tales of blues, gospel, and roots music that the top notch band was spinning from the stage. Plant truly is Rock n’ Roll’s Peter Pan.

The beautifully flowing set was filled with most of the Raising Sand album that the two recorded last year and peppered with reworked versions of some classic songs taken from both of their timeless catalogues. Their new rendition of the soulful, guitar heavy “Black Dog” is nearly unrecognizable in this arrangement – it’s slowed down to ¼ time and Jimmy Page’s imitable guitar riff was replaced by a ghostly banjo line that reverberated long after the house lights came up. The band rumbled and rolled right through an energetically subdued rendition of “Black Country Woman” that was without question a highlight of the set. And the upbeat fan favorite “The Battle of Evermore” worked wonderfully as Krauss offered a sweet harmony to Plant’s classically sinister wail. Krauss and multi-instrumentalist (and music virtuoso) Stuart Duncan played a fiery, dueling fiddle solo on “Evermore” which ended up being a compelling replacement for an old-fashioned guitar solo.

When they played Tom Waits’ “Trampled Rose” the music slowly dripped down the nonexistent walls of the ampitheater like the legs of a good wine swirled inside a long stemmed glass. It was about ¾ of the way through the set and any remaining fragments of sunlight had long disappeared when Krauss started singing the gospel classic “Down in the River to Pray” from the O’ Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, a cappella. At this point everyone in attendance fell into a fragile hush that was as capable of cracking with each passing note as her soft and impassioned voice seemed to be. For that moment even the trees stopped rustling out of silent reverie. By the time they got around to playing their latest single, “Please Read the Letter”, Plant and Krauss’ increasingly interconnected voices had become a single resolute voice.

The humility of both renowned singers was apparent, if for no other reason than their constant willingness to let the road-tested band of Nashville’s finest, led by the incomparable T-Bone Burnett, to be on full-display throughout the entire set. It was their handling of the delicate mood changes within the music, from organic to lavish or moody to euphoric (sometimes all in the confines of a single song) which proved that this couldn’t have been done with just any ol’ group of musicians, there is definitely a special chemistry between these players. Burnett has certainly put together an ensemble that compliments one another like they’ve been playing together since birth.

Unfortunately though, we can’t stay in Neverland forever – we must return to our shadows and face the ever looming promise of age – but getting to hang-out with Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, and their musical band of Lost Boys for an evening was truly a magical experience that shouldn’t be missed.

(note: these photos are not from the Highland Park performance...since I didn't have a telephoto lens I lifted these from their Beacon Theater performance in NYC. But you get the point)

Shelf Dusting (for the week of 6/15 - 6/21)

Here we will remind you of old albums that may have been lost in the clutter or just tend to slip your mind on a regular basis. So take these records down from the shelf, blow the dust off of them, turn the stereo up, and push play.

James Taylor
Sweet Baby James (1970)



This is Taylor's second album and easily his most revered. More than a few of these songs went on to make up about the first half of his Greatest Hits album. Here, Taylor is still a young troubadour, not yet chiseled by wisdom, as he tells tales of love, loss, and lessons from the road.

Rediscover these songs: "Sweet Baby James", "Fire and Rain", "Steamroller Blues", "Country Road", "O' Susanna", and "Anywhere Like Heaven"


Golden Smog
Weird Tales (1998)



Golden Smog is one of those bands that was so good they could never possibly get the credit they deserved, so they got no credit. This Minneapolis/Alt. Country Super Group featured members of Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, The Replacements, and Wilco. This album oozes country-rock at it's finest, where the country influence dominates and the rock influence can onlybe found in some intangible whisper between the notes.

Songs to rediscover: "To Call My Own", "Until You Came Along", "I Can't Keep From Talking", "Reflections on Me", "Please Tell My Brother", and "Fear of Falling"

Music News for 6/18

Metallica still has stupid album titles.

Ween is pro-poon and pro-bad-rap-music.

Amy Winehouse is in the hospital again...shocker!

Sheryl Crow is passed her prime.

Kanye West has an ego...once again...shocker!

Coldplay have a bad sense of fashion.

Rock Around America: Memphis

Here are the big music landmarks once MUST hit while in Memphis, TN, et al. These photos were taken 6/8-11/2006 by Brent Owen and Chad Perry.

This is the entryway to Graceland. Here at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard Graceland was the home in which Elvis Presley, The King of Rock n’ Roll, lived and eventually died in on August 16^th, 1977.

This is Stax Records located in a converted Movie Theater at 926 East McLemore Avenue. Stax Records was the Memphis equivalent to Detroit’s highly successful R&B label Motown Records. The two labels rivaled each other year to year to see which label’s artists sold the most records. While Motown referred to itself with pomp as “Hitsville, U.S.A.” – Stax chose to antagonize them by referring to itself as “Soulsville, U.S.A.”, making the implication that Motown was now making Pop records and no longer the R&B tracks (then known as "Race Records" due to their specific appeal to the African American community) that had originally launched it to stratospheric success. And make no mistake the Stax roster ended up beginning the careers of some of R&B’s greatest and most influential artists, including: Otis Redding, Booker T and The MG’s, Albert King, The Staples Sisters, Rufus Thomas, and comedian Richard Pryor. The Stax Studio and house band Booker T and the MG’s also produced hits for artists outside of the Stax family, performers like: Wilson Pickett and Sam and Dave.

In this photo is The Lorraine Motel, located at 450 Mulberry Street, the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Just behind the pictured wreath is where his body fell. I include this because it represents the injustice that inspired generations of singers and songwriters to raise their voices in song or to pick-up their pens in protest or to bend their guitar strings in sorrow. This is why delta bluesmen played, this is what Billie Holiday sang about in “Strange Fruit”; and this is what poets wrote songs about, songs like: “A Change Is Gonna Come”, “Inner City Blues (make me wanna holla)”, and “Mississippi Goddam”. It was this restlessness that inspired some of the greatest most thought provoking music in history. And it wasn’t just reserved to African American artists either – The Civil Rights Movement also inspired the likes of more mainstream white artists like: Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez.

This is the monument that stands at the intersection of Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This is Robert Johnson’s fabled “Crossroads” where he supposedly sold his soul to the devil; thus laying the early foundation of what would become Rock n’ Roll. This very intersection has inspired Johnson himself with “Crossroads Blues”, Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”, and the Page and Plant song “Walking into Clarksdale.” This legend has also inspired such films as Crossroads (1986) with Ralph Machio and Jami Gertz, unfortunately not the classic 2002 film starring Britney Spears; and of course The Coen Brothers’ epic O’ Brother Where Art Thou?.

Here is Sun Studios. If the true birth of Rock n’ Roll could be traced back to a single place…this red brick building would be the place. This store front operation at 706 Union Ave., started by legendary producer Sam Phillips, consisted of no more than a tiny reception area, a single studio about the size of a large bed room, and a tiny control room. It was here that Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, Levon Helm, B.B. King, and even U2 have recorded some of their most beloved songs. And on a hot summer after noon, it was in this building that an inspired engineer rolled tape on what became known as “The Million Dollar Quartet” which consisted of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash all participating in an impromptu performance around the studio’s old upright piano.

Album Review - My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket

“Evil Urges”

2008 ATO Records

Album Grade: A

Career GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.6

By: Brent Owen

These Louisville natives have done it again. They offer up another record that pushes the musical boundaries to almost a breaking point. While Jim James and company have become critical darlings and the industry insiders’ best kept secret – Evil Urges might very well spark the end of the band’s anonymity.

As with every album they do it’s once again...another total departure from their previous work. Their breakthrough It Still Moves sounded like a mash-up of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy and Neil Young’s Ragged Glory. The follow-up, Z, was a much more commercial sounding release that still stayed left of the middle – as if in some intangible way it was recalling an album like Television’s Marquee Moon.

This brings us to Evil Urges, an album that has no simile.

While it opens up with two of my least favorite songs that My Morning Jacket has ever recorded – the rest of the album is so strong that it warrants no more than a single point off its total score (I had to remove the +). The title track and “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream pt. 1” are weird fusions of psychedelic acid rock andR&B. While there does seem to be a point where such a combination could work, the band just doesn’t close the deal here. I will admit though, that there is an instrumental breakdown in the middle of ”Evil Urges” that comes close to making the rest of the disjointed track seem worthwhile.

“Thank You Too!” is the band at its melodic best – with a gentle and harmonious guitar riff that while brilliant is almost overshadowed by James, who seems to channel Bono’s vocals from the All That You Can’t Leave Behind album. “Sec Walkin’” is a song where we get to hear the band’s country roots on full display for the first time since “Golden” off of It Still Moves. The nostalgic narrative that the band spins during “Librarian” is irresistible, as they recall schoolboy crushes and romanticized fantasies. And don’t miss the eight minute epic “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream pt. 2” which is so good it ultimately ends up proving that “Part 1” was wholly unnecessary.

I'm not sure if it's possible to hear the scream that punctuates the end of this record and not be left wondering, “Where do these guys go from here?” They have set a high standard for themselves with Evil Urges; but then again they’ve done that with each of their previous efforts - and yet somehow with each record they have managed to not necessarily clear the previous bar, but rather they just put up a new one and clear that bar instead.

Previous Albums:
Okonokos (2006)
Z (2005)
It Still Moves (2003)
At Dawn (2001)
The TennesseeFire (1999)

Album Review - Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann

“@#%&! Smilers”

2008 Superego Records

Grade: A

Career GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.7

By: Brent Owen

My relationship with Aimee Mann’s music has been kind of like that girl who you never really dated but somehow has been a consistent bed partner through many different phases of your life. There may be years in between trysts – but it’s inevitable that eventually she’ll end up in your bed again someday.

I first “met” Aimee’s music in the spring of 1996 when she was the opening act for Bob Dylan at the Palace Theater in Louisville, KY. I fell for the slow drawl that is her voice, as it gently works its way through each heartbroken lyric.

And then we lost touch.

We were “reunited” a few years later just as I was graduating from high school and fell in love with Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Magnolia – which she did the entire soundtrack for. At this point I felt a connection based on our history together, so it only seemed right that I get to know a little bit about her past. So I started buying ‘Til Tuesday albums and some of her previous solo records in a veiled attempt to know her on an even more intimate level than we already were.

But then we lost touch.

Alas, we have met again – nearly ten years later and she feels the same, she feels familiar, she feels like that same woman who made love to me from the stage on that May evening all those years ago. And I can’t help but wonder what she’s been up to for the past ten years – pining over me perhaps?

The title @#%&! Smilers, hints at the very cynicism that I can not only relate to, but that drew us together so long ago; conversely it’s possible that it’s the very reason I never called the next day. I must admit though, I’m not a fan of being coy – I wish she had gone all the way and titled the record what she is hinting at. Remove the Sunday morning comic swear symbols and say what you’re thinking. Say: Fuck Smilers. Fuck those of you who are happy, fuck those of you who are in long lasting, functional relationships, and fuck all of you and your white picket fence, American dream. Just say it: Fuck Smilers!

Aimee has acquired a lot over the course of three decades in the music industry – and they all come together on this disc. “Freeway” might possibly be the best song she has written in her entire career. It hinges on a down trodden chorus that evokes the delta bluesmen of the forties and fifties, while mixing flares from a synthesizer that recalls the New Wave decade from which she rose; and yet she manages to create an arrangement where everything feels like musical decoration and nothing feels like the focal point.

“Medicine Wheel” might be the angriest song every written with little more than a piano and vocal arrangement. The sadness disguised as anger in her voice reminds us that it’s these unfettered glimpses into the human condition that helps keep Rock N’ Roll a poignant and relevant extension of the public consciousness. And the metaphor that is “Little Tornado” is so obvious it’s almost cliché but in the hands of a gifted songwriter like Mann it’s still moving beyond words.

I abuse my relationship with Aimee Mann. She might have been the right musical fit for me countless numbers of times and yet my pride has stood in the way of what might have been “us”. In the course of @#%&! Smilers, though, I feel like her and I have finally sat down and had “the talk”. We both know I’ll probably be gone tomorrow, we both know she’ll probably show back up somewhere further down the road, and we both know that we’ll start this dance all over again…someday.

Previous Albums:
One More Drifter in the Snow
The Forgotten Arm
Lost In Space
Bachelor No. 2
Ultimate Collection
Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture
I’m With Stupid
Stupid Thing
Whatever

Album Review - The Parlor Mob

The Parlor Mob

“And You Were a Crow"

2008 Roadrunner Records

Album Grade: A+

Career GPA: 4.0

By: Brent Owen

I pray that The Parlor Mob will take over the world. I pray that they will storm mainstream radio and stage a revolution, the likes of which we haven’t seen since “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. I pray that they will be the return of true Rock N’ Roll to the public consciousness. And I pray that every eye that reads this will go buy a copy of The Parlor Mob's album.

After hearing this record it is impossible to spell "Classic Rock Revival" without mentioning The Parlor Mob. This is a band best described as if the members of Led Zeppelin were in their early to mid-twenties and just now arriving to the current ebb tide of authentic blues based rock – then And You Were A Crow is the album that they would have recorded.

This is truly the band that rock purists have been waiting for. This is a band that embraces their influences without trying to mimic them. They have a taught rhythm section and a chemistry with one another that just radiates through the stereo speakers. The give and take between both very capable guitarists really builds a layered complexity that we haven’t heard on the radio in decades. And Mark Melicia’s voice sounds like a blend of Robert Plant, Perry Farrell, and Zach De La Rocha without all of the posturing of those seasoned vets.

From the first note of this debut album, to the very last; this is an absolutely flawless album. And if the band isn’t good enough, Producer Jacquine King perfectly captures the raw, unbridled nature of a band that attacks sound they way that these guys do. Each song sounds clean enough to have been recorded in a fancy studio – but just muddy enough that it might be the first and only take they recorded.

The explosive opening track “Hard Times” bleeds with leftover riffs straight from the Jimmy Page handbook. The song writing here palpable – they don’t just rock these guys have something to say as well – there is a tension that makes you feel like the speakers are always on the verge of blowing out. “Tide of Tears” is an eight minute epic ballad with several teasing guitar solos that lead to a giant two and a half minute solo toward the end. Sometimes the guitar work on this song echoes that of Slash on “November Rain” without being derivative. And “Bullet” is a big song that from the beginning feels like it’s been swirling out of the barrel of the gun that he's singing about. You can almost hear the blood in Mark Melicia’s voice when he screeches, moans, and sings (all at the same time) “You just can’t take the bullet out the gun.”

Previous Albums:
None