The Fat Freddy Review Column

manny wrote:

Great job as always, and I know to stay away from that winters CD

No kidding! The "Corgan singing Black Sabbath at the wrong speed" makes my ears hurt just thinking about it.

tohostudios wrote:

manny wrote:

Great job as always, and I know to stay away from that winters CD

No kidding! The "Corgan singing Black Sabbath at the wrong speed" makes my ears hurt just thinking about it.

Thanks fellas -- it's a tough job sometimes, but I feel better knowing that by listening to some crappy music, I save others from doing the same.

Banged out a few new reviews this week:


ICED EARTH - THE CRUCIBLE OF MAN (SOMETHING WICKED PART 2) (B-) SPV/Steamhammer, 2008
15 tracks, RT: 59:15

Iced Earth had a lot to prove to this disappointed fan after last year's FRAMING ARMAGEDDON (SOMETHING WICKED PART I), which I'm sad to say, still leaves me cold after all this time. I really WANTED to love the first installment of Jon Schaffer's mega-epic, as I've been an Iced Earth maniac since the early '90s and have loved every other release they've done, yet FRAMING ARMAGEDDON just never grabbed me by the nards. Some fans were quick to point the finger at then-current front man Tim "Ripper" Owens (who was unceremoniously shown the door as soon as touring commitments for the disc were complete), but I thought he did a fantastic job on Iced Earth's previous disc (THE GLORIOUS BURDEN) and therefore was puzzled at how lifeless FRAMING ARMAGEDDON sounded in comparison. Anyway, after a year and the much- hyped return of prodigal vocalist Matt Barlow to the Iced Earth fold, we finally get Part 2 of the SOMETHING WICKED saga. After several spins I am still not totally sold on this disc either, but I will say that I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than its dry-as-dust predecessor. Let's be honest, Barlow and Schaffer go together like peanut butter and jelly, and as soon as Matt's familiar lion's roar kicks in over the ripping chords of "Behold The Wicked Child," most fans should immediately be overcome with a feeling of "Whew!" Tim Owens may have done his damnedest with the material on FRAMING ARMAGEDDON, but he's more of a straight-ahead metal screamer, whereas Barlow has always had a sense of drama and theatricality to his voice that fits this sort of end-of-the-world melodrama perfectly. The production sounds cleaner and livelier than on FRAMING ARMAGEDDON as well, which is a major plus. I only have a promotional copy of this album sans lyrics/liner notes so I'll be honest and say I can't make heads or tails out of the storyline at all, therefore I'll simply say that my favorite tracks thus far are the aforementioned "Behold the Wicked Child," "I Walk Alone" and the triumphant "Come What May" (also the longest track on the disc, clocking in at just shy of seven and a half minutes). On one hand, THE CRUCIBLE OF MAN was a massive relief to this long time Iced Earth follower (I still think I preferred Matt's other vocal performance this year, on Pyramaze's amazing IMMORTAL disc, over this one, though), but on the other hand I kinda hope Schaffer's gotten the conceptual stuff out of his system with these two albums and we won't have to deal with a Part 3 to this saga the next time around. Enough is enough!


METAL CHURCH - THIS PRESENT WASTELAND (C+)
SPV/Steamhammer, 2008
10 tracks, RT: 57:23

So we're now three albums into Metal Church's current era (which began with 2004's WEIGHT OF THE WORLD album, on which lone original Church member Kurdt Vanderhoof assembled an all new band lineup to carry the banner) and listening to them is still a somewhat unsatisfactory experience for this long time fan. Don't get me wrong, I really WANT the "new" Metal Church to put out something awesome that makes me shout, "Woo hoo, Metal Church is BACK!" Unfortunately, they haven't quite hit the mark yet, though I think they come closer on THIS PRESENT WASTELAND than they did on 2006's bland A LIGHT IN THE DARK. Before I am accused of being too harsh, I want to make clear that I have no problems with any of the performances on THIS PRESENT WASTELAND. Ronny Munroe is a confident singer with a bellow that's best described as a blend of Bruce Dickinson and Dio (with a bit of Halford's high end when needed), and he does a fine job throughout the disc, while the riff work by Vanderhoof and his new partner Rick Van Zandt (who replaced former Malice guitarist Jay Reynolds after the release of A LIGHT IN THE DARK) is suitably dark and doomy as well. Musically, at least, Metal Church in 2008 sounds as solid as they ever have. So you're probably asking, "Then what the hell's your problem, pal?" I hate to say this about a band I've loved for so long, but the bulk of the songs on THIS PRESENT WASTELAND simply weren't very memorable for me. Yeah, it sounds great while it's playing, but the tunes tend to go "in one ear and out the other" and don't leave much of an impression when it's over. "The Company Of Sorrow" is a strong opener, and I like the HEAVEN AND HELL-era Sabbath vibe of the epic "Deeds Of A Dead Soul" (Munroe's best vocal performance on the CD), but otherwise these tunes haven't stuck with me. Much of the material is frustratingly mid-tempo; I personally would like to see some of the thrash feel that Metal Church had on their classic debut or 1986's THE DARK return to their sound in the future and kick things up a notch. In other words, THIS PRESENT WASTELAND continues in the same tradition set by the two previous Metal Church albums -- it's not a bomb, but it's not essential listening either.


CLAWFINGER - LIFE WILL KILL YOU (C-)
Locomotive Records, 2008
13 tracks, RT: 51:35

Three little words on this band's press sheet tell you pretty much everything you need to know about Clawfinger: "Swedish Industrial Rapcore." Hey, wait a minute, come back here!! I'm not finished yet!! From what I've been able to gather about Clawfinger via various 'Net sources, the band has been around for quite some time (LIFE WILL KILL YOU is their seventh studio album) and they've apparently won several European Grammy awards and have sold records out the wazoo on their home continent. (Which sounds impressive enough until you remember that there's no accounting for taste... after all, they eat dogs and cats in some parts of the world too...) I don't know how many of their past albums have been released Stateside but speaking as someone who generally doesn't care for "modern hard rock" it certainly sounds to me like Clawfinger's got the chops to compete in the American market if they got the right push. If these boys ever got on an OzzFest or similar tour, I bet the kids would be all over this band like a fat girl on a cheeseburger. Now that I've said that, I'm not going to lie to you... this band's style is definitely not my thing at all, but I must admit that LIFE WILL KILL YOU actually had a few moments that kept it from being a complete waste of my time. The real star of this band in my book is guitarist Bard Torstensen, whose chunky riffage provides the "metal" in Clawfinger's "rap-metal" mix and (thankfully)gives me something to hang an ear on. This dude can play! Vocalist Zak Tell, meanwhile, is the band's weak link. During the album's rock edged tunes (such as the opening track "The Price We Pay," which the band's label should release to radio if it hasn't already) he's got a smooth, pleasant enough voice (he actually sounds a little like the guy from Nickelback, which may or may not be a recommendation depending on your tastes), but when he starts rapping...all I can say is "ugh." This dude's rhyming skillz make Kid Rock sound like Chuck D. (and I frickin' HATE Kid Rock!) Therefore, the tracks where his vocals lean more towards the hip-hop end (such as the title track, "Prisoners," "Carnivore" and "Dying To Know") were a pretty rough listening experience. (Oh yeah, and the trip-hop infused ballad "Little Baby" was absolutely god-awful.) For those of you who might actually be interested in this style of music, I suppose I'd recommend LIFE WILL KILL YOU, as it's certainly well played, flawlessly produced, and has just the right amount of "aggro" to satisfy your urges. As for me, I doubt LIFE WILL KILL YOU will ever see the inside of my CD player again once this review is finished.

Excellent job on the reviews.

Didn't you already review Rebellion? I know you at least talked about it because that's why I bought it.

tohostudios wrote:

Didn't you already review Rebellion? I know you at least talked about it because that's why I bought it.

I may have mentioned it in the "Playlist" thread after giving it a listen when I first got it a while back but nope, I didn't get around to officially reviewing it till now.

Very good reviews, excellent job as usual. I am definitley going to add that Kreator DVD on my list and unit you reviewed I didnot know it exisited. It is funny the political and historical occassion that this concert celebrities, while it happened during my lifetime it feels like took place a lifetime ago.

I am not a huge fan of powermetal but Rebellion sounds like a solid release, I will check them out on You Tube when I get home.

Excellent job, Freddy.

Quote :

Here's another disc that came to me out of the blue and made me go "Wow! Where the hell has this band been my whole life?"

That was my reaction. Love this band!

You can send me that Metal Church disc if your done with it Freddy

thrasher73 wrote:

You can send me that Metal Church disc if your done with it Freddy

All I got to review for the Metal Church was a CD-R copy...but I'll throw it in with that J.Freaks disc I'm shipping out to ya if you want it.

A few new ones this week... with more to come...

MOTORHEAD – BETTER MOTORHEAD THAN DEAD:
LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH 2-CD (B) SPV/Steamhammer, 2007
Disc 1: 12 Tracks, RT: 46:53
Disc 2: 11 Tracks, RT: 55:59
MOTORHEAD – MOTORIZER (B)
SPV/Steamhammer, 2008
11 Tracks, RT: 38:59

Talk about a double dose of Head trauma!! When this combo of Motorhead’s latest studio album and its preceding live disc arrived in my mailbox in the same package a while back, I was heard to comment, “Wow, I haven’t gotten this much Head in one day since my college girlfriend!” (Bwahahahaha – I know, I’m going to Hell for that joke!) But seriously folks, those of you who’ve checked in with Lemmy and company over their past three or four albums (and if you haven’t, you really should!) would be hard pressed to argue the fact that the current Motorhead lineup is the most consistently killer in the band’s history. Like a fine wine (or perhaps a good, stinky cheese), Motorhead continues to defy Father Time and gets better with age. BETTER MOTORHEAD THAN DEAD was recorded at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon in June of 2005 to mark the band’s 30^th anniversary and the 23-track set finds the band as on-target and ear-shreddingly LOUD as ever. There are no frills to the band’s performance – Lemmy starts off the set by announcing, “Good evening, we are Motorhead, and we play Rock N Roll!” before blasting into “Doctor Rock,” then leads his compatriots Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell through an thorough overview of Motor-history, including such classics as “Stay Clean,” “No Class,” “We Are The Road Crew,” “Killed By Death” and of course “Iron Fist” and “Ace of Spades.” The then-current INFERNO album (one of their best in my book) is represented by the excellent “Killers,” “In the Name of Tragedy,” and the acoustic blues number “Whorehouse Blues.” It’s also a treat to hear Lemmy’s salute to his spiritual brothers from New York City, “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.” kicking off Disc 2 and Dee getting to show off his drumming prowess in a solo during “Sacrifice.” I was a little bummed that a personal favorite Head track of mine, “Eat The Rich,” was not included but otherwise I have no complaints about the song selection on BETTER MOTORHEAD THAN DEAD. Lord knows that there are literally dozens of other live Motorhead offerings out there already but I’ll wager that the band’s legions of hardcore fans will want to add this one to their collections nonetheless.

Moving on to the current MOTORIZER, I can only echo my comments from the last two Motorhead reviews I’ve written for Detritus over the past couple of years (the aforementioned INFERNO in 2004 and 2006’s KISS OF DEATH) – if you’re a Motorhead fan, you’ll be in seventh heaven as soon as you press “play” on this one. Opening track “Runaround Man” sets the tone for the entire album, i.e. “We’re Motorhead, we don’t f**k around, so either get on board or get out of the way!” The single/video “Rock Out” is a Motor-mission statement, plain and simple, and the sleazy rocker “English Rose” is Lemmy as his sneering, leering best. In a nutshell, MOTORIZER will crush, pulverize, and pound you into submission, which is all anyone can ask from a new Motorhead release. Long Live Lemmy, and here’s to another 30+ years of cranium crushing rock and roll from one of metal’s true legends.

MONGREL – FEAR, LIES & PROPAGANDA (B-) Immolation/Screaming Ferret, 2008
14 Tracks, RT: 45:56

The dictionary defines “mongrel” as “a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed” or “any cross between different things, esp. if inharmonious or indiscriminate.” I’d say the second definition pretty well sums up this Massachusetts-based quartet, who mix equal parts of old school punk, hard rock, and metal to create a catchy cross breed of genres. FEAR, LIES AND PROPAGANDA was self-released by the band in 2006 but was picked up for wider distribution by Screaming Ferret Records in 2008. The band’s politically-charged lyrics and no-frills musical attack brings to mind such greats as Black Flag, Warrior Soul and early Corrosion of Conformity and should please both the punk and metal crowds. The Misfits-esque “Whoaa-oh’s” in album opener “I Refuse” had me bobbin’ my head right from the get-go, while the fast paced “Who Would Jesus Destroy” jacked the heart rate up as well. My favorite track would be “Shut Up, Get Dead,” which features some fast-paced, hyperactive vocal ranting that would make Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies proud (That track also provided me with my most quoted lyric of 2008 – “Shut up, get dead, ‘cuz you suck at life.” Haha!), while “Dyslexic Alchemist (F.I.A.A.)” sounds like a mash-up of early Metallica (during the verses) and Nirvana (on the choruses). The initials in the title stand for “F**ked It All Away,” in case
you’re wondering. Another highlight is “West Memphis Hell,” a thrashing track
based upon the tragic story of the “West Memphis 3.” All in all, FEAR, LIES AND
PROPAGANDA successfully pulls off being heavy without being overly extreme,
thought provokingly political without being preachy, and musically solid all
the way around. According to the band’s MySpace there’s already a follow up to
FEAR, LIES AND PROPAGANDA in the works for 2009 and I’d be interested in
checking it out when it hits the streets. The Screaming Ferret version of this
CD apparently features a cover of Amen’s “Coma America” as a bonus track but my copy (released on the band’s own label) seems to be missing that song, so I
can’t comment. From what little I know about Amen, though, it sounds like
they’re the perfect band for Mongrel to cover. Though I didn’t quite know what
to expect from this disc when I first received it, this Mongrel ended up putting a pretty decent bite on me.


HOLY MOSES – AGONY OF DEATH (C+) Wacken Records/SPV, 2008
12 Tracks, RT: 69:28
Led by legendary frontwoman Sabina Classen, Holy Moses have been making a racket on the international thrash metal scene since the mid-‘80s, and though I’ve read about them in ‘zines and on the Internet for years, I had never had a chance to check the band out till AGONY OF DEATH arrived in my mailbox. As soon as track #1, “Imagination,” detonated on my stereo, I immediately thought that the band was very well named because my reaction was “Holy Moses, this is some seriously heavy sh*t!” The band’s musical attack contains all the hallmarks of the classic Teutonic thrash style (think Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, etc.) while Classen’s completely insane vocal screeches sound like some unholy love child of Wendy O. Williams and Mille (Kreator) Petrozza. (That’s supposed to be a compliment, by the way.) If I were unfamiliar with the band I honestly would not know that this band had a female vocalist behind the mic, because Sabina’s growls prove that she is more than capable of playing with the big boys. She’s the Anti-Doro! Though I’m impressed with the machine-like riffing and overall brutality of this release, I truthfully can only take this brand of take-no-prisoners, kill-everything-that-moves thrash in small doses (and the vocals, more often than not, are the deal breaker for me with the German bands) but even though I’m not a huge WOOOARRRGH vocal fan I still have to admit that musically, Holy Moses have definitely got their you-know-what together. Wimps like me who prefer a little more melody in their thrash probably won’t care for Holy Moses’ style of crush but those of you who groove on any of the aforementioned Germanic bands can definitely add AGONY OF DEATH to your collections with confidence. Now where did I leave my bottle of Excedrin?

Excellent reviews on the Motorhead CD's and I am now intrigued to check out Holy Moses and Mongrel, between yourself and rattpoison's recommendations my wallet is getting even thinner than it usually is.

Great job Freddy.

Thanx Manny... I have that Holy Moses promo CD on my trade list if you're interested...

Why don't you have a freakin' website?

EvyMetal wrote:

Why don't you have a freakin' website?

I've often thought about starting one up but because I have the attention span of a fruit fly it has yet to actually happen.

My reviews do get posted on the Detritus MySpace page, which can be found at http://www.myspace.com/detritusezine

Oh well. Maybe someday.

EvyMetal wrote:

Oh well. Maybe someday.

Yeah, once my kids have moved out of the house and I've achieved total financial independence so I have time to work on such an endeavor...

In other words, I appreciate the thought, but don't hold your breath while you're waitin'.

Metal Church as much as it hurts me, is was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't like much of Jeff's drumming style on this album, and the production wasn't as good as I was expecting it.

But it is an enjoyable album to listen, and it won't be on the shelf collecting dust.

I recommend it

Some short-but-sweet ones this week... had some crap to wade thru, too!!
Spec -- Sepultura and those DVDs are all on tap for next week. I swear. Really. I mean it this time. Honestly and truly.

EDIT: The formatting on this board is really starting to piss me off. When I copied these from the Word document on my PC it looked like a Find-A-Word puzzle up in here and it took me forever to fix!! WTF?


KREATOR – HORDES OF CHAOS (B) SPV Records, 2009
10 Tracks, RT:
[ http://www.kreator-terrorzone.de ]
[ http://www.spv.de ]
[ http://www.spvusa.com ]

German metal legends Kreator create the kind of skin-peeling thrash that makes you want to eat a pile of raw red meat, wash it down with a bottle of grain alcohol, then go out and kick someone’s ass. Over two decades since their inception, not much has changed on their 12^th and latest studio album, HORDES OF CHAOS. The ugly-as-hell spiked and fanged creature-thingie on the front cover lets you know what you’re in for before you even slip the CD into your player, and as ever, Kreator doesn’t disappoint. HORDES OF CHAOS is one mean green mutha of a thrash album, loaded with the band’s trademark whirlwind guitar riffs, powerhouse drumming and the truly unhinged, screeching vocal attack of Mille Petrozza spitting venom over the top. The band immediately sets the “We don’t f**k around” tone with the blasting title track, then proceeds to pummel you senseless for nine more songs of vicious, high-speed thrash metal that only Germans seem to be able to pull off without turning into a sloppy mess. The closing track “Demon Prince” is particularly monstrous, as are “Warcurse” and “Destroy What Destroys You.” All in all, HORDES OF CHAOS delivers. Raise your horns and strap on your bullet belts, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Or should that be a “ride straight to Hell?” Whatever. As they approach their 25^th year as a recording act, Kreator still sound vicious as ever, and HORDES OF CHAOS should be received gratefully by their hordes of fans.

AUTUMN BLACK – THE UNBORN TRAGEDY (D) Tyburn Records, 2008
11 Tracks, RT: 35:37
[ http://www.autumnblackmusic.com ]
[ http://www.TyburnRecords.com ]
[ http://www.myspace.com/autumnblack]

When I opened an envelope full of promotional CDs a while ago and this one fell out, my immediate reaction was, “Awww, sh*t.” I guess nobody in the Autumn Black camp read my not-terribly-positive review of their previous CD, 2007’s BENEATH THE SHADOWS, or they’re just gluttons for punishment. Either way, the band is still totally not my thing. I tried to keep an open critical mind as I dropped THE UNBORN TRAGEDY into the player but unfortunately, ‘twas all for naught… yep, they’re still playing the same kinda generic, screamy metal-core crap that they were dealing on the last album. 11 tracks of WOOOOARRRRRGH got on my nerves real quick, but I did gut it out long enough to make it through the entire CD once in order to write this review. If anyone wants the disc now that I'm done with it, it's under my coffee cup. When I reviewed their last album, Autumn Black’s press kit contained the howlingly funny line “East Coast Metal plus West Coast Hardcore equals Autumn Black.” This time they changed the equation to read “Fusing Metal, Hardcore and Pop = Autumn Black.” Pop? Where’s the pop in this CD? I call major bullsh*t on that one. Anyway, I’ve wasted enough time writing about this drivel. If you’re one of those kids with dyed black hair whose main source of new music is your local Hot Topic store, then this band is probably for you. It sure ain’t for me. Whenever Autumn Black releases their next CD, they would be doing both of us a favor by losing my address.

LEVEL-C – S/T (C)
Locomotive Records, 2008
10 Tracks, RT: 38:19
[ http://www.level-c.net ]
[ http://www.myspace.com/levelc ]
[ http://www.locomotivemusic.com ]

This is going to sound cruel as hell, but after spinning the debut by this Cleveland
based all-female band a couple of times, the first comment that came to my mind
was that “Level C” was a very apropos name for them, because this is pretty
C-Level stuff. By that I mean “on par with those local bands that get to play on
the back of a flatbed truck in the parking lots at OzzFest.” They don’t out-and-out
suck but the tunes on offer here are pretty average aggro-rock that didn’t make me want to line up for a ticket to their next show, either. The bio makes much ado about how their “full throated metal ecstasy” (Huh huh huh… must resist urge to make tasteless joke…!) is topped by “the fact that they are downright hot chicks,” but if I hadn’t had a picture of the band and the bio sheet to go by, I probably wouldn’t have even realized that there’s a woman on vocals here. Honestly, Christine Maynard sounds like pretty much any other “modern metal” singer out there right now, male or not (though she thankfully lays off the WOOOARRRGH style, only bringing that out of her vocal arsenal sparingly). Level-C are nowhere as annoying as Kittie, but they’re no L7 (still my favorite all-female band) either. For some odd reason, much of the album reminded me of Prong at their most lukewarm, coming across as rather vanilla and generic to these ears. They scored a few points late in the game for the fairly groovin’, angry song “Suck A Fist” (which is probably what these gals will tell me to do if they read this review!) and the mournful “Misery,” but overall I am underwhelmed and therefore I give Level-C a grade of “C.” When it comes to all-female bands you can continue to pass me the L7 or Betty Blowtorch, please.

CONQUEST – END OF DAYS (B) Dark Star Records, 2008
11 Tracks, RT: 49:44
[ http://www.conquestmetal.com ]
[ http://www.myspace.com/conquestmetal]
[ http://www.darkstarrecords.com ]

This band was a new name to me but apparently Conquest has been kickin’ around the St. Louis area since 1989 (!) in one form or another and they’ve released three other full lengths and an EP during that time. After taking a first glance at the flames ‘n’ skulls motif of the cover art, I erroneously assumed that Conquest was going to be a death metal band, but once the opening track “Feel My Pain” blasted forth I was pleasantly surprised to hear a classy, chugging traditionally-minded metal combo. Conquest describes their music as “Pure Thrash/Power Metal” and after several spins of this impressively packaged indie release, I can’t argue with that. The cool thing about Conquest is that they’re decidedly “old school” but don’t present it in a way that sounds over-the-top or cheesy. Bands such as Testament, Fight, Nevermore, Iced Earth, early
Metallica and Metal Church came to mind while I listened to these 11 tracks. The entire album is tight as a drum and very well played, though the gold star has got to go to guitarist/vocalist Derrick Brumley, who can sound like Chuck Billy one minute, Matt Barlow the next, all the while cranking out some seriously shredding leads alongside fellow six-stringer Mike Crook. Standout tracks for me were “Walk Alone,” “Killer Machine,” and “Revelation (Soul Keeper),” but END OF DAYS kept my interest all the way through and has continued to do so through repeated spins. Considering that I have the attention span of a fruit fly, I don’t say that about a lot of CDs nowadays. END OF DAYS is one of the better indie releases I’ve come across of late and I can definitely say that it will spending a lot of time in my player during the new year. These guys have obviously been studying the masters and have learned their metal lessons well.

Excellent job on the reviews, I did start to feel old when you pointed out that Kreator are inching up to 25 year mark as recording artist. Autum Black review was hilarous and yes they do suck.

Some on Level-C's management need to talk to them about name change since it is easy name to pick on, but I felt you were fair to them.

I admit if I saw a name is generic as Conquest I would have passed it up, but thanks to your review if I happen to see a used copy I may pick it up.

KREATOR!

ultmetal wrote:

KREATOR!

FEEL ZEE ENDLEZZ PAAAAAAAIIIIIIIN!

Quote :

I admit if I saw a name is generic as Conquest I would have passed it up, but thanks to your review if I happen to see a used copy I may pick it up.

You can get that Conquest disc via CDBaby, it's good stuff.

Quote :

Autum Black review was hilarous and yes they do suck.

Thanks... sometimes I try to find something nice to say even about albums I don't like but I was in a pissy mood when I got to Autumn Black and dammit, sometimes it just feels GOOD to let someone have it with both barrels!

It's been a while but I'm hopefully going to have some new reviews written over the long weekend. Till then, here's something from the archives that I dug up to send to a friend... I wrote this for my college newspaper, the Wagnerian, way the hell back in May of 1992. As you can see, I had some fun with this one.

SPINAL TAP - BREAK LIKE THE WIND (Dead Faith/MCA Records)
Rating (on a 1-to-10 scale): 8
Spinal Tap fans have been suffering in silence since the 1984 breakup of the legendary English band, who called it a day after drummer Mick Shrimpton exploded on stage during their Japanese "Smell The Glove" tour. For the last eight years the surviving members -- vocalist David St. Hubbins, guitarist extraordinaire Nigel Tufnel, and bassist Derek Smalls -- have been carving out their own solo careers (Tufnel with his instrumental Tasmanian world-music project, Smalls with the Christian speed metal band Lambsblood) with varying success. Now the Tap has reunited with the late Shrimpton's twin brother Ric filling in on drums and unleashed their comeback album, the mighty BREAK LIKE THE WIND. It's an absolute corker, proving that time hasn't diminished an ounce of the Tap's subtlety, understatement, or punctuality.
Armadillos firmly entrenched in their trousers, Tufnel and company open the album with the blistering "Bitch School," the first single and video. This flat-out rocker sets a heavy tone that continues with the Jethro Tull-esque "Springtime," the riff-o-rama of "Cash on Delivery," and the pomp and circumstance of "The Majesty Of Rock." The Tap have friends in high places, too, as evidenced by Cher's guest vocal on the power ballad "Just Begin Again" and guitar solos by Slash, Jeff Beck, and Joe Satriani on the title track.
What truly makes BREAK LIKE THE WIND a special album, though, are the classic tracks included from the Tap's past. The band's former manager, the late Ian Faith, sold off the entire Tap back catalog to the Iranian government in numerous shady dealings over the years and thus made their old albums unavailable for sale in the U.S. or Europe, so the boys have tossed in a few of their golden oldies to introduce them to a new generation. The Beatle-ish "Rainy Day Sun," originally the B-Side to 1967's "(Listen To) The Flower People" single, shows that David and Nigel were experimenting with barnyard animal sounds and backward-masking tricks well before Lennon and McCartney did it on "Sgt. Pepper," while the lovely "Clam Caravan," from Tufnel's 1968 solo album, features some stylish sitar picking to create a distinct Middle Eastern feel. "The Sun Never Sweats," from the 1975 concept album of the same name, is Tap at their heaviest, but the truest gem is the album's closer, a scratchy mono recording of the long-lost "All The Way Home," which was the first son Tufnel and St. Hubbins ever wrote together as schoolmates in Squatney, England. The long overdue release of this important piece of rock history is worth the album purchase all by itself.
Some may say Spinal Tap are "too old" or call them "dinosaur rock," but I say that the Tap are just as youthful and important as the day when we first saw them on TV's "Pop, Look, And Listen" back in 1965 performing "Flower People." In short, "Break Like The Wind" is the finest Tap album since the days of classics like "Shark Sandwich" and "Intravenus De Milo" so everyone should check it out and support the most welcome return of one of rock's loudest bands!!

Excellent job as always and I actually like that silly as hell album by the Tap boys.