This is the second album from a hard rock act that includes a couple of veterans. Guitarist David Henzerling (AKA: David Michael Phillips) has played with King Kobra, Lizzy Borden, Keel, Alex Masi and others. Behind the microphone is Robert Mason who has sang with Lynch Mob, Cry of love and others. Rounding out the band is Henzerling's long time friend John Covington on drums and a bass player named Colby. With song titles like "Second coming", "Ride on me" and "Every inch of my love" you can tell that subtlety is not what they are aiming for. A read a few reviews that refer to their music as a self-parody, but I have problems buying into that idea. If you are going to parody the music then it kind of needs to go all out and have some humor. It probably also needs to have some music that draws you in. To me this is just a very routine hard rock entry that for the most part, I have heard many times before. There are a few tracks that standout a little, but largely it's buy the numbers stuff that could have come out between 1987 and 1990. Robert Mason sounds strong at times, but just mediocre at other times. The music is just alright, but nothing spectacular. I really wanted to like this because I enjoyed the two veterans in some of their previous bands and that's why I bought it. I think both Henzerling and Mason spent years being hired guns having to play and sing what others told them to. So you would think when you finally get your chance to do what you want that you would go all out and run with it. Yet they choose to do a rather bland effort that doesn't really distinguish them from other bands. Now this might be slightly better than their debut "Year of the cock" just due to better production values. So if you want to hear Henzerling play then I would recommend King Kobra's "Ready to strike" and if you want to hear Mason sing then check out Lynch Mob's second release rather than wasting your money on this album.
***Allyson over at Bring back glam interviewed David Henzerling the other day so go check out the interview.
After reading that interview, it's no surprise that music is dull. David Henzerling tries to practice cool out of a book (probably a picture book, no less) it seems. I know rock stars aren't always rocket scientists, but he could have been at least a little bit clever.
ReplyDeleteI actually like the album. It is not the "best", but it is pretty good.
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