Tunnel-s/t

Driver Wild Music
2009

I wasn't too pleased when vocalist Robert Mason went Warrant last year. Not just because it meant that Warrant would continue to make music, but rather because Mason had been with Big Cock and I think that after three albums they had started to gel. The first two Big Cock albums with both raw even clunky at times although the second one definitely showed far more tightness around the edges. Then came "Motherload" in early 2008. Okay, it had all the goofy sexual lyrics just like the previous outings, but what had changed was that the music had jumped several levels in quality. It was if everything had fallen into place and the sound just flowed. Then Mason went to Warrant and I figured that was the end of Big Cock and in a way it was. So what does that history lesson have to do with disc? Well, guitarist David Henzerling bounced back fast, pulled in some help and put together an album that picks up in the same tracks of where Big Cock left off. The cock and roll lyrics of Henzerling's former project are gone, but music, vocal style and overall direction are very similar to Motherload. For influences I hear a mixture of Lynch Mob, Tesla, Van Halen and even Henzerling's early band King Kobra. The rhythms are basic, but smooth. The powerful vocals of Scott Hammons push to get as much out of the material as possible. The solos are normally right on the money with plenty of control and variation in tones. The rhythm section (including Henzerling handling bass duties too) are exactly what they need to be with is loud and providing a great backdrop. There isn't a whole lot here that you have not heard before, but it's played extremely well with a lot of confidence and very little filler. With all of the above going for it Tunnel's debut comes across as a good hard rock album that all involved should be proud of.