Category Archives: hard rock

AUGUST CHRISTOPHER – A Brand New Day

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August Christopher is a Nashville based band which has a sound which encompasses many different elements, but could best be described as rock/pop with a leaning towards country rock. They’ve gained a reputation for being a hard working band and have secured support slots in the past with various bands, but appearances with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Train, Seven Mary Three and Nickelback would certainly be among their more high profile.

This third August Christopher release is a concept disc about “a man struggling with his alter-ego, walking a tightrope of good and evil”. As always with concept albums, this isn’t always completely clear. Concepts aside, though, ‘A Brand New Day’ features some good quality material. A couple of tracks fall short of the mark, but generally, the album presents a solid set of tunes.

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SCRATCHED MATINEE – Notes From The Incurable

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matineeChris Francis is a guitarist from south east England. He will be familiar to melodic rock fans as being the man who replaced Vinny Burns in TEN, playing on their ‘Return To Evermore’ and ‘Twilight Chronicles’ releases. In addition to that, he’s released guitar instrumental albums under his own name.

Moving away from the guitar instrumental format, Chris’s third release is an album of actual songs. Although released under a band name, Scratched Matinee is essentially just Chris Francis (providing all musical aspects) and Phil Philsworth on lead vocals. The album, ‘Notes From the Incurable’ is a concept piece, of sorts, which supposedly touches on themes of depression, warfare, psychosis, murder and triumph. I say supposedly, since the album is mixed badly and as a result, most of the vocal details are drowned out by Francis’s loud guitar work at least half the time. Being a guitarist, the guitars will often be his main concern, but the volume of his guitars combined with a small budget makes this album sound overly trebly and rather harsh. The recording is almost without any bass and the drums are programmed – and that’s a great pity, since some of the material here sounds like it should be absolutely amazing.

So, what about the songs? A bit of a mixed bag – but more often than not, Scratched Matinee deliver the goods with maximum intensity. A gentle intro with the sounds of acoustic guitars and orchestral leanings leads into ‘The Scarlet Ice’. You want bluster? You want bravado? You got it. The guitars are so dirty; in fact, the overall arrangement has little in the way of subtlety – and somewhere in amongst it all, you’ll find vocalist Phil trying his best to be heard. Not the best of openings, but things get better, at least intermittently. Huge vocals splashed across a late 80s guitar riff can be heard at the beginning ‘These Long Winter Evenings…’ – a track with not only a good chorus and melody, but also features Philsworth’s vocals much higher in the end mix. It provides an insight into Francis’s melodic rock roots, but just as things appear to be settling down, ‘Horror Show’ presents itself with a huge, dirty swaggering riff. Its intro promises a lot, but once you get past the Peter Frampton-esque talk box noises, it seems to be all oomph and no lasting substance. Again, it’s a  struggle to hear a clear vocal delivery behind the wall of guitars.

‘New Moon Monday’ offers something a little more restrained. Philsworth delivers a reasonable performance on a pompy song which has hints of early Queen with its piano base. By the time the lead guitars kick in, Francis has chosen his usual tone – and, once more, the guitars appear to be so loud, they mask everything else that’s going on. ‘Mother Medicine’ provides the start of some proper respite from the guitars, sounding a little like the Beatle-obsessed rock as practised by Ty Tabor (but heavier, naturally). Throw in a couple Jellyfish-esque vocals – resplendent with a chorus of backing vocal harmonies, with a bunch of shameless ‘na na’s and ‘la la’s – and it quickly becomes of the album’s best tracks. Similarly, the hard rock waltz of ‘Theatre Insane’ features some great moments. The ringing rhythm guitars provide a decent base; Francis seems to be rather more restrained here and this means that Phil Philsworth gets a chance to be heard upfront once again. Things build until we reach a spooky, carny-influenced moment, which is bolstered by various samples of voices and keyboard strings, before everything falls away and Francis delivers a solo. Here, he wisely chooses something a little quieter, with a few classic moments to be heard – there’s a fair amount of feel, a bit of vibrato and not too much ugliness – a quick reminder of why his previous works were so enjoyable.

There’s a reasonable amount of mid-range aggression and all round hugeness to be heard on the closing tracks of the disc, so it’s likely if you’re still digging the album by this point, there are a few more thrills to be had. Thankfully, there are a couple of great musical aspects lurking between the full-on rock moments: ‘Mr Spencer’ features a brilliant rumpty-tumpty arrangement (again, more than reminiscent of early Queen) while ‘Summer Days’ has a fantastic acoustic intro. It’s beautifully played – such a shame Chris Francis doesn’t lean towards acoustic work more often. Enjoy it while you can though…the fuzzy electric guitars stomp over anything too intricate before long…

Hearing a lot of talk prior to its release, this sounded like a brilliantly adventurous project, and in many ways, it is. There are some decent songs here and some potentially very interesting arrangements, but the good parts are absolutely wasted on an album with such a small recording budget. Sadly, a bad final mix combined with the (at times) almost relentless bombast of Scratched Matinee’s approach toward most things brings the potential for a headache. It’s a full-on experience, but not always in the most enjoyable way. Still, if the world needed an album that sounded like 80s guitar rock crossed with early Queen and the pomposity of ‘The Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance, this is it.

If you’re unfamiliar with Chris Francis and are curious to hear a gifted musician, here’s some advice… Rather than wading your way through Scratched Matinee’s foray into something nearing theatrical self-indulgence, as a first listen, you’re better off visiting the Chris Francis website and picking up his solo release ‘Studs n’ Sisters’ instead.

www.chrisfrancis.net

December 2010

MOTÖRHEAD – The World Is Yours

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worldisyours

Twenty studio albums and various live albums into their career, it’s only Lemmy who remains from the “classic” Motörhead line up, but in many ways, that’s all you need. On 2010’s ‘The World Is Yours’, Lemmy, drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell (celebrating seventeen years together – Motörhead’s longest serving line-up) add little to their back-catalogue with regard to new ideas. However, this far into a career which has stuck almost rigidly to Lemmy’s original musical vision, they’re preaching to the converted. If you didn’t get the Motörhead ethos by now, you never will. And if you are someone who doesn’t get it, it’s likely Lemmy doesn’t care.

Recycling an already familiar title, ‘Born to Lose’ opens with a solid riff from Phil Campbell and it soon becomes clear very quickly that this isn’t a re-recording of an earlier Motörhead number. The riff may be decent, but it’s Mikkey Dee’s drumming which provides the moments of real greatness. Here, Dee pulls out all the stops, delivering something worthy of “classic” early Motörhead. His kit thunders out of the speakers with a great amount of power – spending so many years playing the intro to ‘Overkill’ must have left its mark. The guitar riff from the opening bars is replaced by something more rudimentary during the verses, but makes a timely return on the chorus sections. Campbell’s featured solo is full of wah-wah goodness and features a decent level of aggression. Meanwhile, the rhythm guitar riff placed underneath beefs things up further by delivering something reminiscent of ‘Mars: The Bringer of War’ from Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets Suite’.

‘I Know What You Need’, ‘Devils In My Head’ and ‘I Know How To Die’ are archetypal examples of the sound which made Motörhead world famous. Although short on surprises, Lemmy, Dee and Campbell sound as tight as ever on these tracks – the furious solo on ‘I Know How To Die’ is possibly one of the album’s best and there’s a catchy edge present on ‘Devils In My Head’ thanks to a great shout along chorus.

With most Motörhead discs, there’s a slower, chugging number and ‘Brotherhood of Man’ offers one of their most threatening. Over a brooding riff, Lemmy recounts the fate of a world ravaged by war; a corrupt place where everyone has blood on their hands and murder is law. Lemmy’s vocal delivery steps down from its usual shouting croak and drops to an even lower register. In an almost spoken word delivery and Lemmy growls his way through some incredibly heavy lyrical content. A mid-section picks things up briefly as Dee sounds as if he’s gearing the band up for Campbell to deliver a killer solo, but after a couple of bars, the band drop back into the main riff in time for Lemmy to deliver the last verse. Naturally, Campbell squeezes in a solo at the close, but it’s quite understated. The chugging riff and doomy vocal are the big draw here – and this ‘Orgasmatron’ inspired number really hits it’s mark.

Lemmy and co sound at their most enthusiastic when they’re let loose upon a couple of numbers which are less influenced by hard rock and metal and lean farther towards old style rock ‘n’ roll. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Music’ does exactly what it says on the tin, with Lemmy rasping his way through a number which borrows a musical aesthetic from very early AC/DC. It ends up sounding unavoidably like Motörhead, of course (especially on the choruses), but there’s a sense of fun delivered with a slight arrogance that’s often absent elsewhere. ‘Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye’ takes the love for such rock ‘n’ roll tendencies to a whole new level as Motörhead speed their way through something which sounds like Status Quo’s take on Chuck Berry’s ‘Bye Bye Johnny’, but played with twice the aggression, served up with some mildly distubing misogyny. While Motörhead can often be accused to recycling tried-and-tested musical formulas and lyrical ideas, the energy behind this number proves the sparks of brilliance are still very much there.

Measured up against a few of their other 21st Century releases, ‘The World Is Yours’ may not match the greatness 2004’s ‘Inferno’, or deliver it’s songs at the blistering speed of the best moments of 2000’s ‘We Are Motörhead’, but it’s almost certainly as good as ‘Kiss of Death’ or ‘Motörizer’. The unconvinced are likely to remain unconvinced, but for the dedicated Motörfan, there are more than enough gems here.

December 2010

STRATOSPHERE – Fire Flight

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Göran Edman will be familiar to some of you as the man who provided vocals for Yngwie Malmsteen between 1990 and 1992, appearing on his ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Fire and Ice’ albums. More recently, he’s been the frontman with melodic rock outfits Street Talk, Brazen Abbott and Escape Music signings Vindictiv. He’s also stepped in as vocalist on various other projects, including a couple of releases masterminded by Flower Kings bassist Jonas Reingold. In short, in the world of European rock music, Göran has always been an “in demand” vocalist. This debut release by Stratosphere finds him fronting yet another symphonic melodic rock band; this one the brainchild of Scandinavian keyboard virtuoso Jeppe Lund.

In addition to Edman and Lund, Stratosphere features Anders Borre Mathiesen on bass, Jim McCarty on drums and Jonas Larson on guitar. While Stratosphere is credited as being Lund’s band, it’s certainly Larson who is the real star. His guitar work throughout most of the disc is top notch, provided, that is, you like your playing with a Euro neo-classical bent. It’s somewhat unsurprising that Stratosphere’s music takes the bombastic Scandi route, but the end results are, for the most part, about as good as can be for this style of rock.

‘Russian Summer’ opens with a crunchy mid-paced riff which is unmistakably European. Göran Edman takes the opportunity to make his presence felt as he hits some great notes. Jonas Larson’s solo features plenty of sweeping notes; there are plenty of great features here if this kind of hard rock is your bag – the only minor flaw being the chorus: it sounds like it should have a major hook, but try as it may, it’s not especially memorable despite carrying a decent core melody. ‘The Battle Within’ takes things up a gear with a busy guitar riff which would be typical of Yngwie Malmsteen at his best. The vocals are fairly grandiose with plenty of ‘whoah’s as backing. Honestly, given the song title, I’m sure you know what you’re getting here! …And if that’s what you want, it does not disappoint – particularly during the pre-solo bridge, as Larson hits upon a Celtic motif, backed by Lund adding pompy string sounds as backup.

I’d hoped ‘Princess of the Night’ would be a cover of the popular Saxon number from 1980, delivered with a suitable amount of energy. Instead, it presents Stratosphere’s chance to slow things down with a big power ballad. Fairly sizable backing vocals are on hand in the relevant places and Lund’s blankets of keyboards work well throughout, but it’s Edman’s lead vocal which provides this number’s best feature. He belts out his lines with effortless grace and although the pomp element to the music attempts to drown him out in a couple of places, he holds his own. Larson’s solo is a little too busy for the space it occupies, but it doesn’t spoil what’s otherwise an album standout.

With Lund’s keyboards providing one of the key musical features (thus taking the focus away from Larson’s guitar a little for a change), ‘Streets of Moscow’ offers plenty of melody. On this mid-paced rocker, Edman sounds at ease, as if he’s sung the song a thousand times. Of course, it sounds rather like something which would have graced a Malmsteen album way back when, but given Edman’s presence and Larson’s guitar style, that’s more than to be expected. I’d certainly rather listen to it than the instrumental which follows… ‘Rendezvous’ is a lightning speed neo-classical workout where Larson and Lund take turns to show off their musical prowess to levels of self-indulgence. I appreciate these guys can play (and very well at that), but once you’ve heard the opening riff, it doesn’t deviate too much from there and after four minutes, it’s quite draining.

‘VIP’ opens with an wonderful intro full of sweeping guitar lines capturing Jonas Larson on top form. After such a promising start, it’s downhill from there as the band hammer forward at full speed with predictable Yngwie Malmsteen-esque bombast. This alone wouldn’t make it too bad, particularly given the effective backing vocal arrangement, but man, some of the lyrics are appalling. Featuring lines such as “your cold eyes are bigger than your belly boy / Sobriety is a virtue, god knows / Gluttony stepping on his toes / Stand in line, not the cup of tea for a VIP”, it doesn’t bode too well. It reads badly, but as Edman works his way through them at full volume it sounds pretty ropey too. A fairly energetic guitar solo which leans towards the neo-classical works quite well, but not enough to save ‘VIP’ being a skipper. For the neo-classical fans among you, the album closes on a high note. Beginning with a huge keyboard intro which would be worthy of Don Airey, the title track is a no-nonsense instrumental number which features fantastic guitar work throughout. Granted, Larson may not have the finesse of Ritchie Blackmore, but as far as these kind of neo-classical chops are concerned, he’s got more than enough clout to match Malmsteen and many others at the top of their game. While it has it’s busy moments, it’s far classier and more restrained than ‘Rendezvous’.

‘Fire Flight’ is certainly an accomplished debut. While there are moments where some of song writing is a little hit and miss, musically, Stratosphere hit their mark with a fair amount of consistency. As such, fans of Scandinavian rock music (and fans of Göran Edman’s vocals in particular) should find this album enjoyable.

December 2010

METHODS OF MAYHEM – A Public Disservice Announcement

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methodsIn 1999, during his time away from the Mötley Crüe drum stool, Tommy Lee embarked upon a new project, Methods of Mayhem, with rapper TiLo. Their 1999 self-titled album combined dance, rap and a healthy dose of nu-metal and was a world away from any of Lee’s previous work. Featuring a host of guest performers, including Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, L’il Kim, Snoop Dog, The Crystal Method and George Clinton, the album’s fusion of styles could be best compared to Limp Bizkit, though the end result was far better than anything Fred Durst and his band of cronies had released by that point. Or, in fact, ever. Naturally, the reviews were mixed, as were the responses from Crüe fans.

A decade later (after various Crüe albums and tours, and a couple of solo releases)
Tommy Lee revived the Methods of Mayhem project. In place of TiLo and a long guest list of famous vocalists, Lee takes on most vocal duties himself. The album isn’t without outside contributions, though, since Tommy Lee had a rather resourceful idea: he asked unknown musicians to submit work to his website – from which he would choose the best bits as the basis for the album’s songs. In addition to the pieces of music selected from over 10,000 submissions, ex-Bone Machine guitarist John Allen III (aka J3) assumes the role as Tommy’s main collaborator. With J3’s 80s rock and glam metal roots, he provides more musical clout and melody than the original pairing of Lee and TiLo, which in turn makes ‘A Public Disservice Announcement’ a surprisingly varied outing – and one which, for the most part, doesn’t sound much like Methods as you remember them on their debut.

The opening track, ‘Drunk Uncle Pete’ would’ve been enough for me to stop listening almost straight away, had I not had faith that the album had to feature at least a few great tracks. Imagine something that sounds like ‘In Too Deep’ by Sum 41 with more electronic fuzziness and a choir of teenagers, and that’d be a close approximation of its evilness. How it made the final tracklisting is a mystery in itself, but to open the album with it is just insane. One of the only “typical” sounding Methods tracks, ‘Fight Song’ (released as the album’s first single) redresses the balance, with its sledgehammer guitar riffs and aggressive vocal (part shouting, part rap influenced – though no actual rap this time around). This has the trademark Methods sound which was slapped across the debut; elements of nu-metal band Snot, P.O.D. and early Powerman 5000 colliding with Tommy Lee’s unrelenting attitude make this impossible to ignore, whether you like it or not. ‘I Really Want You’ hits upon a similar groove, but it much lighter in tone, with Lee delivering a fairly melodic vocal. The electronic parts are among the albums best – each of the musical elements unfussy and suitably crunchy.

‘Time Bomb’ is a track which melds alt-rock and lightweight pop-punk, but does so with plenty of charm. J3’s guitars are fuzzy and the vocals are subject to studio trickery, but for those of you who like your hooks a little more traditional, this should be far more enjoyable than anything Methods have offered you previously. Between the pre-programmed elements and slight distortion, J3’s chorus is like a shining beacon (surely a hit in the hands of any number of made-for-music-television pop-punk outfits); some guitar playing here leans towards the more traditional too, with a (multi-tracked) twin lead solo.

The acoustic guitars overlaid with subtle electric parts as featured on ‘Blame’ provide a huge musical curve-ball for Methods. I expect J3 has had an influence, once again, and particularly so during the track’s slightly Beatle-y moments. Its “modern rock” sound – the kind which became unavoidable on US radio throughout the 00’s – is closer to Lifehouse or The Calling than anything you’d associate with Tommy Lee, but even so, his vocal is strong here and he sounds incredibly comfortable in this musically mature role. With a very gentle verse – a hushed vocal set against an almost mechanical arrangement, ‘Louder’ is another of the album’s stand out numbers. In terms of feeling, again, it shares more in common with the soft end of alternative rock than it does with the angry metal of old school Methods. According to Lee, the song is about those dreams you have where you try and scream but all you hear is silence. In an attempt to recreate the unnatural feeling of this, all the vocals have been put through various effects – not too far short of autotune abuse – but, rather surprisingly, this doesn’t detract from the end result.

Bordering on novelty, ‘Party Instructions’ lumbers around for nearly five minutes in the style of early Daft Punk, its electronic loops not really going anywhere. A heavily treated, spoken vocal delivers the instructions like some kind of motivational speaker. An occasional female vocal in an r ‘n’ b style doesn’t help matters. As such, this is a track you’ll probably skip after two or three plays – which, I suppose is good odds compared to ‘Drunk Uncle Pete’.

‘All I Wanna Do’ marries r ‘n’ b style beats with hard electronica and is certainly this album’s answer to ‘Get Naked’ (the debut’s duet with L’il Kim). None of Tommy’s sweatiness comes anywhere close to Kim’s vulgarity, but he does his best to push the buttons of the anti-misogynists. Also featuring a healthy dose of electronic styles, ‘Back To Before’ screams radio play. Having more in common with a band like The Killers or Head Automatica than Methods of Mayhem, it’s another of the album’s big surprises, matching a danceable electronic arrangement with treated vocals and an alt-pop chorus. ‘Only One’ is a bit of a mish-mash; it has a vocal which on the quiet moments occasionally slips into something resembling ‘So Fine’ by Guns N’ Roses (unintentionally, I’m sure) while its heavier moments feel rather laboured. The guitar style has presence, but aside from slabs of sound, doesn’t really achieve anything. A keyboard part occasionally provides interest among the sludge, but it’s very underused. If anything, most of this could have been tempered by a chorus of some sort.

Those approaching this album as a follow up to the 1999 disc may find themselves disappointed, at least at first. A couple of songs sound like the original Methods – which should please old fans – but in relation to the rest of this album, they certainly feel like lip-service to the past. With its aspects of light and shade, this album has far more in common, perhaps, with parts of Tommy Lee’s solo outing ‘Never a Dull Moment’ than previous Methods recordings. This may have a great deal to do with changing times – after all, if Tommy Lee were to release a carbon copy of the Methods debut, this disc would sound a decade out of date.

October 2010