arcane-beautiful
I think in order to fully review this I will have to address the multi coloured bearded elephant in the room.
Mike Portnoy! The man of a thousand bands. Yea, ever since he left Dream Theater, Mike has been forming a new band every 5 seconds. And now it seems he's leaving them now as well (he just left Adrenaline Mob and will probably leave this band soon too.)
I have to admit, the idea behind this band is good. A super group playing hard/blues rock. And yea, it works...for the most part.
The sound is there and all, but sometimes the songs can be a bit too familiar, which can make the album sound very repetitive and formulaic. The songwriting really needs to be toned up, especially because there are some really belters on this album. But now and then, the songs tend to end up being very similar, and at times be quite lengthy. Sometimes the songs have great natural endings, but the band have ADHD almost, so they decide to jam at the end.
Also, lyrically, the album falls within similar patterns and is mainly all generics and clichés, making some of the songs about...well...nothing at all really.
One of the biggest highlights of the album has to be Ritchie Kotzen. Vocally, he sounds like the love child of Chris Cornell and Sammy Hagar...which really isn't a bad thing. Billy Sheehan as normal, plays bass with a wah pedal and does fast hammer ons. His tricks are pretty typical at times if I'm being honest. Mike plays it simple on this album. Which I'm glad of to be honest, because he does tend meddle with riddly diddly's now and then.
The albums 3 singles, “Elevate,” “Desire” and “I'm No Angel” are brilliant songs. Don't get me wrong, cheesy as hell and stuff we've all heard before, but they are incredibly catchy and groovy as hell. Especially with a song like “Desire” which sounds like a James Brown song at times. A very groovy and enjoyable song, with some soulful vocals throughout.
The opening track “Elevate” is a perfect opener. In many ways this song reminds me of Audioslave's “Your Time Will Come.” A very memorable riff and a pretty kick ass performance from Ritchie.
I would have to mention this, but shock horror, Mike Portnoy wrote the lyrics for one of the songs “You Saved Me.” Now, this is a love song for his wife, but because he is a bit of a drama queen, he does do a “Never Enough” and basically moans about his fans. Oh what a troubled artist he is.
The albums stand out track really comes in the form of the longest composition (ironically, because lengths where a criticism of mine), “The Dying.” Even though quite lengthy, it is one of the best compositions on the whole album. A beautiful arrangement and some pretty nice lyrics as well, which is good because it strays away from generics.
In conclusion, this really isn't my kind of thing, but I must admit, I did enjoy this quite a bit. I have heard better rock and hard rock revivalist bands over the past few years, but these guys still have something. Great instrumental work and musicianship, with the only thing bringing it down is the overall songwriting. Still worth a listen and a gander though.
6.8/10