Muddy Puddles

First and foremost I am a sucker for cover albums, of which there are many, especially good ones, of which there are few. I really like the different takes on older songs (classic rock). What makes a good cover album is the diversity of songs picked, the talent of the band, and how close to original recordings the band stays, and whether or not the song chosen works for the band's style. It has been my experience that most bands "respect" the originals and stick them almost note for note, where other bands totally destroy the song making it unrecognizable. There is a happy medium to be achieved, a balance in which the band is instantly recognizable to the listener, while keeping the melody and basic parts of the song intact. Tesla achieved this on their Reel to Real Vol I-II, Stryper nailed it on The Covering, and Status Quo tore it up on Riffs as well as Famous in the Last Century, and finally Brian Setzer's phenomenal tribute to Sun Records artists with Rockabilly Riot.


These guys have matured musically far beyond their first major label release. My first thought when I actually saw this album was, at first, surprise that they were still recording as a band. My second thought was "how good can this be, these are the guys that had a hit with She F***ing Hates Me". That song is the epitome of a one-hit-wonder. The debut album was not much better than the song, except for the spark of genius that is Drift & Die. The follow-up album, Life on Display, was just as forgettable as the debut, Come Clean. Imagine my surprise when, out of sheer morbid curiosity, I listened to RE:(Disc)overed and realized that Puddle of Mudd tore the cover off the ball and knocked it out of the park.

What The... These guys have talent? This is actually a very good album, and the song selection reads like a top 40 classic rock radio playlist. Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, kicks things off. The song originally was a pretty mellow tune, but these guys give it some balls and swagger. Next up is Old Man by Neil Young. I have heard this song on the radio, but it never really caught my attention, however, with the modern production and distorted guitars backing up Wes Scantlin's voice, it takes on a whole new life. I know that this tune is a cover, but the band makes it wholly theirs in this rendition. T.N.T. by the Young brothers is an ok version of the song. I have heard worse, but this song still seems to stick out a bit on the album. They try to pump it up and I can imagine it going over really well with a crowd in the live setting, but here it seems a little too produced, and is the albums weak link. Stop Dragging My Heart Around was done originally by Tom Petty as a duet with Stevie Nicks, and the PoM guys do a pretty good job of bringing this song into the 21st century. While I am not a fan of Tom Petty, I may revisit this track as it is handled competently, Wes Scantlin also performs the song as a duet with an artist named BC Jean. Steve Miller is most famous for his song The Joker, and Puddle of Mudd stole it, recorded and made it theirs. The boys give this song a bit of a southern rock vibe that really brings it to life in a way the Steve was never able to accomplish. What follows is probably the oddest song on the list, and Wes Scantlin gives the song his whiskey soaked course bluesy vocal style and nails it. Everybody Wants You was recorded by Billy Squier, in the early 80's and Puddle of Mudd make it modern in 2011. They add riffs, swagger, dirty distortion, and the attitude that Mr. Squier never seemed to quite pull off. Rocket Man by Sir Elton John and Funk #49 by the James Gang are both well done covers, but not the strongest tracks on the album.

Ah, here we go, the tracks that the repeat button was designed for. Now we get to the Paul Rogers duo of tracks, and some Zeppelin. First up is All Right Now, as made famous by Free, and Shooting Star by Bad Co, and both sung originally by Mr. Paul Rogers. The band sticks to the originals pretty close musically, just bringing them up to speed with production and clarity and an attitude that is almost impossible to capture in the studio. I really like both original songs, and I love Paul Rogers voice, but it is Wes Scantlin's course almost nasal style of singing that really gives these songs a life that is not just relegated to the "classic rock" tag. Wes has a sound that is uniquely his, and it is not hard to see these guys tearing up a smoky bar stage, beer in hand, and playing with a feeling that is strictly for the love of rock n' roll. Guitarist Paul Phillips plays the solo in Shooting Star with a level of emotion and competence that is so often missing in most cover songs, like he tapped into the souls of the original players and stole their vibe. The band shreds on this song. Finally, the last cover is D'yer Mak'er by the mighty Zeppelin. Here again the band just tears the song up. PoM's cover is fantastic, played with such emotion, and feeling that you gotta wonder if they were in the studio with Zep when it was originally recorded.

These guys pull off a fantastic cover album, and while not one of their songs is a carbon copy of the original, each song still retains its own unique vibe and feeling among all the rest of the songs. These are the songs that have influenced many a pubescent boy to pick up the guitar  in the hopes of becoming a real rocker. Puddle of Mudd pay homage to the masters, and give a clear picture of their rock n' roll roots without the sarcasm and mockery that many artists in the post-grunge wave are known for. I am adding Puddle of Mudd to the cover-masters' list. I will have to go back and visit some of their previous catalog because somewhere between Come Clean and Re:(Disc)overed these guys grew up, focused their talent, and found their musical souls. 

...Off to Never-Never Land

August 12, 1991 was to see the release of the seminal self-titled album by Metallica. During the first week of this album's release it saw sales of 650,000 units (cd's and cassettes). To date this album has sold 22 million physical copies, and that does not include the digital downloads from places like iTunes and Amazon.com. Occasionally, VERY occasionally, the mainstream media gets behind a good album, and it resonates with the general populace, but I digress...

The first time that I heard this album was in 8th grade. I was sitting in the back of the school bus with my buddy Zak(RIP) and a couple of the high-school kids, when one of the older guys breaks out some contraband. Keep in mind that at that time I was going to a Christian school about 45 minutes away from where I lived and we rode the bus from Redmond to Bend through all the stops that were in between. So, back to the contraband. This guy pulls out of his back-pack a (!gasp!) walk-man (miniature cassette player that ran on batteries and used headphones for the sound),and on said walk-man was Metallica's brand new, just released, Black Album. Now, this was contraband because it was A: a walk-man, B: Heavy Metal (adults called it Devil music) C: not a Christian band. Up to this point all I had heard was just how evil Metallica was, and my metal experience had been limited to top-40 hair metal, and the almighty black and yellow brothers, courtesy of my uncle.

That day my world changed. Those of us that were in the back of the bus got to hear parts of the new album as he passed around the headphones. I was blown away by the heavy, heavy distortion, the neck snapping riffs, the pounding drums, and the lower registers of James Hetfield's voice. The songs were simple and stripped down, not the spastic thrash that I would soon discover by going back through Metallica's catalog. I was totally drawn in, and completely hooked. I received a major rush that day, in part from the music and in part for that moment shared between a bunch of adolescents of differing ages. The moment that "play" was pressed, age, socioeconomic backgrounds, familial backgrounds and everything else that separates people stopped mattering. We were brothers.

It was not until 2 years later that I actually heard the entire album from beginning to end at my friend Willie's house. Once again, we were two social outcasts brought together by our love of all things heavy. I was privileged to hear Metallica's Black Album, Master of Puppets, and Ride the Lightening, as well as AC/DC's Back in Black but it was the Black Album that stuck out. Throughout high-school I wore out 4 cassette copies of that album, during my paper routes and trips to school, work, or whenever and wherever I could listen. It takes a ton of plays to wear out a tape, but I did... 4 times. Then I bought the disc. I never have understood the whole "evil" trip but I think that the adults, my parents included, just did not understand the love of heavy music and associated Metallica with other metal bands like Mercyful Fate, Slayer and Venom whom had not matured past the "look how evil we are" stage.

20 years later, and many things have changed for the band, and for me. I do not listen to the album nearly as often now, but every time that I do, I am taken back to those days. In the late 90's I did lose track of Metallica when they released the Load and Re-Load albums, and totally wrote them off after the garbage that was St. Anger. I was not interested in their symphonic S&M album, although I did buy Garage Inc. as a new release. I jumped on the "Metallica Sucks" bandwagon for awhile, but once again, it was "Nothing Else Matters" playing on the radio that brought me back. I do not think that that if it was any other band under any different circumstances that I would have been affected in such a way. Metallica is not my favorite band, nor do I think that they the most talented, but none of that matters because at the end of the day, Metallica was my door the the metal world. I love this album now as much as I did back then, and I sincerely wish that I could be there in England at Download Fest 2012 when they play the entire album from start to finish.  

100% Guaranteed Mortality Rate

The boys of barely controlled horror, mayhem and chaos are back with album number 4. The costumes, masks, and horror movie themes are ever present as is the brilliantly executed musicianship. Grave Robber prove once again they are at the top of the punk-rawk heap. 

From the opening ambiance of Flatliners to the closing notes of Werewolves, the hooks and lyrics on You're All Gonna Die grab you by the throat and don’t let go.  The tones achieved on this album demand to be played at full volume. The “Whoa-oh-whoa-oh” sing along choruses are in plentiful supply. The guitar tones themselves are reminiscent of a time when Jackson's and Mesa-Boogie ruled the heavy music scene and achieve a fuller sound than on the previous 3 albums. The first few times through the album the controlled chaos behind the kit with the snare drops and fills makes me wonder if the new drummer got his start playing along with the greats like Mitch Mitchell and Keith Moon in his bedroom. This album is unapologetically punk rock but there are moments throughout the album that have a definite metal influence, from the riffage to solo’s that leave the fretboard smoking. Songs like Fill This Place with Blood and Something Wicked This Way Comes will melt your face and reaffirm the talent that this band possesses. There is even a hint of 70’s boogie rock in songs like Haunted House ala Foghat or CCR sped up, that give the songs that cocky R'nR swagger that the aforementioned bands are famous for. 

  

The lyrical themes that are present on this album continue to challenge spiritual atrophy and social ambivalence. Songs like Invisible Man and Last Man on Earth are refreshingly blunt statements about Grave Robber’s stand for the gospel, and a challenge to live it, not just read it. Invisible Man deals with the problem of homelessness not from the perspective of a social injustice but deals specifically with poor and homeless people, and calls out a church community that basically ignores these people, with the warning that if we ignore them, we are ignoring Jesus. This song highlights the command in the gospels to minister to the poor and homeless (John 21:15-19). The lyrics on Paranormal Activity tackle spiritual issues of paranormal activity and give an explanation for their existence from a biblical perspective. Something Wicked This Way Comes makes no bones about the fact that we live in a fallen world and we are surrounded by sin. Incredible Shrinking Woman tackles the issue of domestic violence. The song begins with lead singer Wretched making a plea for those trapped in abusive relationships to seek the healing power of the Re-Animator (Jesus) and get out. The intro also calls for those that are being abused to get help rather than the usual mentality of finger-pointing and blaming. Also back around for another visit is the blatant sarcasm. In the past songs like I, Zombie tackled the "If you partake in communion you are a zombie - Hahahahaha" mentality and reveled in it, this time its the church being filled with the Holy Spirit. The song Haunted House breaks down some of the christian lingo and overused phrases that attempt to explain this phenomenon. This song also recognizes the importance of the church as a building, a community, a place of worship and healing.
 

The energy on this album hearkens back to the Offsprings Smash, Rancid's ... And Out Come the Wolves, or the Dropkick Murphy's Sing Loud, Sing Proud. This level of energy has been missing in the current crop of made-for-radio "pop-"punk" and formulaic whiny emo bands. Grave Robber bring the energy back, and bring energy up. these guys know that punk rock is not just a sound but rather a unifying battle-cry to challenge the complacency in the status quo. In this case, Grave Robber brings the call to the church of America but rather than condemning or pointing fingers, they cry out  and plead for change before it is too late. The final thought on this album... BUY-OR-DIE.