I feel as if when delivering an unfavourable review, I need to preface it with my qualifications to do so, before someone starts the “oh he just doesn’t like that artist/style it’s too soft/heavy/bluesy.”
So with that in mind, I love Great White and I own every album from start to last plus Jack’s own previous solo material. His debut solo was great! And for the most part, I like them all.
And this lives up to none of them. I’ve tried several times to re-start fresh with this album and each time I’ve failed.
Could it be that on just the second track in Jack breaks into a fricken rap in the middle of this horrible jangly, bluesy pop track that was beyond annoying even before the vocal acrobats. And he’s almost at it again on Crazy, which is only slightly less annoying.
Opening with Sign Of The Times, it’s pretty evident this is going to be a laid back affair and sure enough…its more laid back than a sunbaking lizard.
The songs just bore me I’m sorry to say. And there is precious little comparison to that of Great White, even with Jack’s (sometimes) recognizable voice.
The performances are very pedestrian, I don’t rate the band here at all and the songs are devoid of any passion or energy. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any slower, along comes the crawling ballad Anything For You.
This highlights the very problem here – I am a huge fan of the slow Great White ballads like Save Your Love and She Only. Soul and passion in spades.
Another slow blues/reggae type number is the instantly skippable Don’t Let Me Go, then there’s more jangly guitars on Spy Vs Spy. What’s with the awful guitar playing here?
Blame It On The Night is about the only track besides the opening number that delivers a proper riff and while you are still celebrating that fact, the a capella Godspeed will send you panicking for the stop button. What a steaming pile of cow shit this song is.
Most of this album can be filed under “WTF”, and the parts that aren’t are devoid of passion, energy and conviction. It’s such a laid back boring album and without having any great expectations, my hopes are completely shattered.
Awful record….and I never thought this would happen, but the music is even worse than the cover artwork!
