TROUBLE — Manic Frustration (review)

TROUBLE — Manic Frustration album cover Album · 1992 · Stoner Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
UMUR
"Manic Frustration" is the 5th full-length studio album by US doom metal/heavy rock act Trouble. The album was released through the Rick Rubin owned Def American Recordings in June 1992. Rubin is credited as co-producer along with Trouble. "Manic Frustration" is the successor to the band´s second eponymously titled album from 1990, which was also a Rick Rubin produced affair. It was an album which saw Trouble taking their music in a different direction to the doom/heavy metal style of their first three albums, as that album sits firmly in stoner doom/heavy rock territory.

The style of the predecessor is more or less continued on "Manic Frustration", but with a stronger mainstream appeal and with generally more memorable songwriting. Tracks like "Come Touch the Sky", "Memory's Garden" (a video was shot for this track), and "Hello Strawberry Skies" are among the highlights ("The Sleeper" is an absolute heavy/hard rock beauty too), but "Manic Frustration" is a strong album throughout, featuring predominantly energetic hard rockers, but also some slower and more mellow tracks like "Rain" and "Breathe...". The two latter mentioned aren´t the highlights of the album, but they are nice breathers between the high energy hard rockers on the album.

The music style isn´t as such a revolution and you´ll hear little here you haven´t heard in some form or other by other artists and on other releases, but Trouble understand how to write a great powerful heavy rock riff, play some great heavy rhythms, and top it of with the strong screaming vocals by Eric Wagner, who sounds like the bastard child of Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and Brian Johnson (AC/DC). It may seem like a simple recipe on creating vers/chorus structured heavy/hard rock songs, and to some degree it is just that. But standing out from the crowd playing this type of music and to write and deliver memorable tracks with such passion and burning conviction as the listener are exposed to on this release is rare.

Another great feature on "Manic Frustration" is the sharp and powerful sounding production job. That rhythm guitar sound is corrosive. So upon conclusion "Manic Frustration" is a both memorable release and an effective one too, which means you can sing along to all tracks while banging your head at the same time. This sits on the border between heavy metal and heavy/hard rock, and Trouble nail that style to perfection here. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.
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