Tourniquet / Ted Kirkpatrick - Onward to Freedom

So, the album has been released today.
You can listen to it at Tourniquet's Bandcamp site:
https://tourniquet.bandcamp.com/album/onward-to-freedom


What do you think of it?


After first listen, I was actually somewhat disappointed, which has never ever happened with a Tourniquet/Kirkpatrick record before (yes, I even liked ODE TO A ROADKILL and ANCIENT CHRISTMAS).

Now going through it again... Sounds better...

Maybe the initial disappointment was because I tried to read the lyrics at the same time and my focus went on those, and frankly I find the lyrics not really good. It hasn't got anything to do with the theme, I support it, but the lines are quite awkward when read (they don't sound as bad when listened someone singing them). They just don't have much creativity at all. It comes more apparent when listening to STEREOTAXIC ATROCITIES - yeah, it's been remade for this album - which has a thousand times more clever and thought-out lyrics than the new songs have. The lyrics in the new songs have lines that look mostly like ordinary sentences with some rhyming. Something that he could say to an interviewer when asked about these subjects. Maybe that's a style he was intentionally going for... I don't know... But then again, ever since Where Moth and Rust Destroy, Ted's lyrics have had more and more of that kind of stuff, with some clever stuff here and there, but now this album is almost 100% that lyrical style.


It really starts to sound better now. The title track, which was some time ago released as the single, might still be the best track on this album. I'm hearing more and more good moments in other songs though. LET THE WILD JUST BE WILD sounds pretty good. This Gabbie Rae is really good! Along with Michael Sweet, she does the best vocals in the whole album.

....yeah... starting to like it much more now.... however, I think I'm never going to like CAGE23 which ends the album. It's a "happier sounding" soft pop rock song somewhat in the vein of TWILIGHT.


Well.... maybe I just proved myself that, as a person who rarely is interested in lyrics, I should always just listen to the music and only later check out the lyrics if I'm interested enough in them. This is now really starting to sound way much better without the "lyric-reading" in the way of my focus on the music.

I love everything I am listening to. Glad Ted is still all about Animal Rights. The Michael Sweet stuff is really damn good too.

I'm really starting to like this.

The only song I'm still not very fond of is the final track. All the others are very enjoyable.

I was surprised at how much I like it.I didn't have very high hopes for this but the songs sound really good.Ill be getting this album.

I was bracing myself when clicking on this topic here as every else it is getting bashed.
But I see a lot of likers here.

I've given this new album one spin as mostly background music while surfing the net.
What I've heard I like a lot.
I like the gentle intro and not being assaulted upon the ears from the get go.
I like the incredible guest appearances.
And of course, I like the metal.
Another TQT/Teddy project full of anti animal abuse lyrics. That's fine with me, but I can agree with some critics that feel there could be more variety.
There is some uncertainty whether to classify this as a pure TQT album or a Ted album. Both appear on the cover.

I listened to it once on Spotify and I really liked it. It was waaaay better than I thought it might be after Ode to a Roadkill. I understand now why he wanted the Tourniquet name on it instead of just his name. It really does sound like a latter day TqT album with a load of guest musicians on it versus it just being a solo Ted album.

If you're gonna start up a side project, stop pimping your own band name for 5 seconds, so you don't confuse everyone!

I don't know though, this was a tough Tourniquet album to wrap my head around... Probably due to the style change from song-to-song, but the variety was very much appreciated. Personally, I'd rate it slightly below "Where Moth and Rust Destroy," but who knows how I'll feel after a few more listens.

High Points:
•a plethora of vocal styles/vocalists to please even the pickiest of listener.
•they didn't go overboard with the song lengths, album is an appropriate 48 minutes.
•some of the lyrics tug at my heart strings like one of those damned ASPCA commercials.
•Ted Kirkpatrick's drumming.
•this phenomenal Gabbie Rae person that I have literally never heard of before until now.
•"The Slave Ring": that chorus is classic Tourniquet.
•"Let the Wild Just be Wild": the lyrics are meh, but those soaring vocals... damn.
•Marty Friedman and Chris Poland!

Low Points:
•a below average title track, which is a first for Tourniquet, really.
•Ed Aster delivers a great monologue on track #4, but just as the suspense builds and the goosebumps dot my arms, it's COMPLETELY RUINED, by this BS at the 2:10 mark.
•the new version of "Stereotaxic Atrocities."

Careful what you say about Luke Easter. He'll catch wind and come here to fight. Just check the locked RIP threads if you don't believe me haha.

Just listened to this on the link above...

Fantastic album! I'll be getting this. However, it is annoyingly heavy-handed. Musically, though, this is one of the best yet by TQT. Actually won't end up thinking of this as a TQT album, but more of some kind of all-star metal album with Tourniquet logo on it.

corplhicks wrote:

Careful what you say about Luke Easter. He'll catch wind and come here to fight. Just check the locked RIP threads if you don't believe me haha.

Oh wow... This I have to see.

No disrespect to the guy, as this is one of my favorite bands ever, but very rarely can you rerecord one of your classic songs and really do it justice.

corplhicks wrote:

Careful what you say about Luke Easter. He'll catch wind and come here to fight. Just check the locked RIP threads if you don't believe me haha.

Oh yeah,Luke has stopped in here before and use to frequent the CMR board as well.He may be a good dude in real life I don't know but he comes across different on the net.I have nothing against the guy and like all the stuff he's done with Tourniquet.But to me the best Tourniquet lineup is Ritter,Lenaire,Macias,Kirkpatrick,and Mendes.
Speaking of which Gary said he was all for a reunion.Id love to see that.

Hey everyone - cool reading the comments! There are many facets to this album - here is one answer that I already posted on our Facebook page. Some of you are asking: Is this a Ted Kirkpatrick solo album or a Tourniquet album? Can I say “It's both”? Originally it was announced on the Kickstarter campaign (thanks again everybody!) under the name The Tourniquet Ark. It turns out many people - Tourniquet fans and others - understandably were a little confused as to what exactly that meant. So it seemed even more confusing to release it under that name, which still has the word Tourniquet in it anyway, plus a logo using elements of the classic Tourniquet logo.

In defense of using the iconic Tourniquet logo, for starters, Luke and Aaron are on the album (and they sound great). Secondly, because of the overall message of the tunes, there will be thousands of people checking it out who have never heard of Tourniquet until now. I'm confident many of them will then continue to check out all of our Tourniquet catalog, as opposed to just knowing this is an album by Ted Kirkpatrick. Third, it's a metal album – not a “stoner” album or a “drumming” album, and since I have written the overall vast majority of our songs since day one of Tourniquet, fans will likely hear it and say “yep, that's Tourniquet – but with a cool unique sound, due in part to so many amazing guest artists.

Make sense or more confused than ever? Haha – thanks for reading and get ready for Onward to Freedom! - Ted

One reviewer said this:  “Listening to “Onward to Freedom” features as much Kirkpatrick and company’s ability to play almost anything from Classical to the heaviest of metal, but also showcases their ability to forge through this literal kaleidoscope of sound quite well – surprisingly well when you consider that in the end that this is still vintage Tourniquet.”

Actually what I find hillarious is that Ted is a "Metal Novice"

Thanks for coming around, rook!

Thanks for answering some questions, and for letting us know some of the thoughts that go behind the name, art, etc...

Looking forward to owning a hard copy!

I need to check this out! The Roadkill album was boring to me. I like most stoner/fuzz rock, but not the ultra-slow sleepy stuff.

Another "celebrity" guest on HoM!

DallasBlack wrote:

Another "celebrity" guest on HoM!

I know, it's hard to contain my inner fanboy.

Thank you Ted for providing clarity.

Thanks for dropping in and explaining some things Ted.Hopefully you will come back often and see us.

Welp...went and ordered mine. If fact, went for the two-for deal.

I enjoy a few riffs here and there. A few guitar solo's kicked ass. A few drum fills were bad ass, but I am not liking this other than that at all.

Thanks for popping in, Ted. I, personally, have been pushing your latest effort as the best since "Moth".

Listening to it now; quite enjoyable and diverse.

I haven't heard a lot past the first two albums.