Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie

Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie - June 3rd



01. The Devil's Bleeding Crown
02. Marie Laveau
03. The Bliss
04. The Gates of Babylon
05. Let It Burn
06. Black Rose
07. Rebound
08. Mary Jane Kelly
09. Goodbye Forever
10. Seal The Deal
11. Battleship Chains
12. You Will Know
13. The Loa's Crossroad

Sounds cool enough. I like these guys, even if their last one was a bit of a clunker, so I'm sure I'll pick this one sooner or later.

You think Battleship Chains is a Georgia Satellites cover?

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

You think Battleship Chains is a Georgia Satellites cover?

I don't know. I took this info from Blabbermouth and there is no mention of it, although Volbeat is prone to throw a cover or 2 on their albums.

Love, love, love their last one, so I'm excited about this. Woo!

Looking forward to this. Their last was my introduction and I liked it.

I actually found outlaw gentlemen and shady ladies to be a very infectious listen. More polished than their previous records, but still hooky as all get out.

That new song is great! I think their last one was ok, but not their best.

Song is ok. Not a big fan though.

I recently revisited their last album and my opinion of it hasn't really changed much from 2013...

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I'm thinking this disc is gonna earn a spot on "The Biggest Disappointments of 2013".

I've been giving it plenty of airtime since I got it and it's just not grabbing me with anything great. I feel like the band has been neutered. Their past albums have been "metal" with a few rockers thrown in to the mix. This new album is hard rock with 3 or 4 tracks that are metal. And to me, that's a disappointment.

It's really mediocre until the 6th track (the King Diamond one) kicks it up a notch. After that, it falls back to some decent rock tracks, but no crunchy guitars or double-bass drumming until tracks 10 or 11.

It's really not a bad or unlistenable album. No mistaking it's Volbeat. And it's a good rock record, but a little too radio-friendly for me. I miss their older metal sound. And no cover tunes this time around either. They've always put a cool spin on covers in the past, but allas, none to be found here.

I suppose this new direction is working for the band. They cracked the Top 10 Billboard charts (#9 in the US), so I'm happy for them if that get's them some recognition and raises their profile. I just don't see this album being one that I go to very often if I want to hear some Volbeat. It's gonna linger around the bottom of their discography for me.

One last thing, like so many other bands these days, I think this disc suffers from being 3 or 4 tracks too long. Instead of boring us with filler, leave the listener wanting more. 10 or so tracks around 35-45 minutes is plenty.

While I'd like this new album to get a little more "metal", I'm not getting my hopes up. If the formula for the last one worked out well for them, I expect them to follow that trend, whether I like it or not.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie - June 3rd



01. The Devil's Bleeding Crown
02. Marie Laveau
03. The Bliss
04. The Gates of Babylon
05. Let It Burn
06. Black Rose
07. Rebound
08. Mary Jane Kelly
09. Goodbye Forever
10. Seal The Deal
11. Battleship Chains
12. You Will Know
13. The Loa's Crossroad

Ahem.

Wow, that's...that's just shameful.

Juuuuuuuust saying...

I love that Nickelback tune, actually.

Well that's a complete ripoff.

If they're ripping off Nickelback tunes, it's my fear stemming from the last album that's becoming a reality for Volbeat. They're polishing up their sound for radio-friendly acceptability.

I get it. It's hard to make money in the music industry and they are finding a way to claw their way onto a Clear Channel playlist and get some notoriety. Sadly, I don't think it's a journey I want to take with them.

Good luck, fellas. Call me in a few years when you're yesterday's news and you're putting out an album that "takes us back to our roots".

MetalGuy71 wrote:

If they're ripping off Nickelback tunes, it's my fear stemming from the last album that's becoming a reality for Volbeat. They're polishing up their sound for radio-friendly acceptability.

I get it. It's hard to make money in the music industry and they are finding a way to claw their way onto a Clear Channel playlist and get some notoriety. Sadly, I don't think it's a journey I want to take with them.

Good luck, fellas. Call me in a few years when you're yesterday's news and you're putting out an album that "takes us back to our roots".

I don't think they blatantly copied Nickelback. It's a simple song structure that kind of writes itself once you play it, you know. But yeah, they have definitely softened a bit. I don't mind the mellower, more poppy songs, because they've had those before. But those older songs also had heavier parts, which is why the band was so unique. A pop/punk song that goes straight into full-on 80s metal seamlessly, you know. Now, it's just a pop/punk song. Not bad, but no longer unique.

Quote :

Now, it's just a pop/punk song.

I guess. Nothing wrong with that for a pop/punk band. Unfortunately that's not a quality I'm looking for when I want to hear Volbeat.

No additional info yet, but Best Buy will feature an exclusive 2-disc version of this album for those interested.

Witchfinder wrote:

Well that's a complete ripoff.

Sounding like another song for a mere 5 seconds, isn't ripping off. If anything, it's riffing off

Best Buy will have this tomorrow with four bonus tracks, three studio, one live.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

You think Battleship Chains is a Georgia Satellites cover?

Yes it is. A rather uninspired straight-up cover. It's not that drastically different from the original.

EDIT: Track 7, 'Rebound' is apparently a cover as well by the pop/punk band Teenage Bottlerocket.

As for the rest of the album, it's a decent rock album. Most of their metal edges have been completely buffed clean. I was afraid of this happening after their last album. Out of the 13 tracks, only one song 'Seal the Deal', could be categorized as metal. Maybe the last track too. Kinda.

It sounds like Volbeat, no question. And it's pretty catchy. But they've changed their sound from the older days. Whether that's a good thing or bad is completely up to the ears of the listener. If you liked the last album, there is no reason not to like this one too. Perhaps I'll warm up to this one over time as well.

I have not listened to the bonus tracks yet.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

You think Battleship Chains is a Georgia Satellites cover?

Yes it is. A rather uninspired straight-up cover. It's not that drastically different from the original.

EDIT: Track 7, 'Rebound' is apparently a cover as well by the pop/punk band Teenage Bottlerocket.

As for the rest of the album, it's a decent rock album. Most of their metal edges have been completely buffed clean. I was afraid of this happening after their last album. Out of the 13 tracks, only one song 'Seal the Deal', could be categorized as metal. Maybe the last track too. Kinda.

It sounds like Volbeat, no question. And it's pretty catchy. But they've changed their sound from the older days. Whether that's a good thing or bad is completely up to the ears of the listener. If you liked the last album, there is no reason not to like this one too. Perhaps I'll warm up to this one over time as well.

I have not listened to the bonus tracks yet.

I hear the metal edges in there, it's the super clean production that kind of wipes it away IMO. This is probably their catchiest album to date, which for most fans, that means it's Radio Friendly...

Volbeat has always written catchy songs!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

You think Battleship Chains is a Georgia Satellites cover?

Yes it is. A rather uninspired straight-up cover. It's not that drastically different from the original.

EDIT: Track 7, 'Rebound' is apparently a cover as well by the pop/punk band Teenage Bottlerocket.

As for the rest of the album, it's a decent rock album. Most of their metal edges have been completely buffed clean. I was afraid of this happening after their last album. Out of the 13 tracks, only one song 'Seal the Deal', could be categorized as metal. Maybe the last track too. Kinda.

It sounds like Volbeat, no question. And it's pretty catchy. But they've changed their sound from the older days. Whether that's a good thing or bad is completely up to the ears of the listener. If you liked the last album, there is no reason not to like this one too. Perhaps I'll warm up to this one over time as well.

I have not listened to the bonus tracks yet.

Yeah, the metal is basically gone. It's their in spirit, I guess, but unlike in the past when they weaved fully in and out of different styles, they're firmly rooted in a more pop punk style now, only brushing up against other styles.

The bonus tracks are useless. Two alternate versions of songs on the main album, a live track, and a short instrumental that'll just piss you off. Haha.

I had originally planned to skip this release for the time being as I was not impressed with the tracks I heard, but long-story-short, my wife ended up getting this for me. So for free, it's good enough.