Dan Lavery

REVIEW: Tonic – Head On Straight (2002)

Though they had Bob Rock in the producer’s seat, Tonic really stopped rocking on their third album.

TONIC – Head On Straight (2002 Universal)

This album really should have been their best to date, with talent like Bob Rock at the console.  Instead, it sounds as if Rock was bored or distracted, and there was nobody in quality control for songwriting.  The band sound desperate, chasing hits, and not doing what they used to – rock in their own style with twang and stomp.  The bland cover art belies the faceless music within.

The misleading opener “Roses” is a typical de-tuned early 2000s rock song.  The riff and chorus fail to lift off.  It slams hard, but there’s nothing at all to hook you in.  It’s as if the band have forgotten how to write songs.  You can hear that Jeff Russo is doing some cool stuff on guitar, but you can’t actually hear it!  It’s buried under the uninteresting riff.  It’s like they forgot all that southern charm that made their debut and follow-up both attention-getters.

Second track “Take Me As I Am” is the first ballad, and it’s fine, if a bit cookie-cutter.  It has hooks.  Three more ballads follow, and none are as memorable as anything on the first two albums.  Even the title track, “Head On Straight”, is a ballad.  I was expecting a rocker.  These ballads just don’t have the weight or impact of past albums.  They’re well produced and hefty enough, but they lack that je ne sais quoi they used to have.

“Liar” is the first rocker in a dog’s age, and it’s crap.  Low on melody and high on cliche, it ain’t good.  Then, more ballads!  Songs like “On Your Feet Again” might work a lot better if there were only two.  As it is, the brain just can’t differentiate from song to song.

Fortunately, “Come Rest Your Head” isn’t a ballad, but it also doesn’t really rock.  It has one riff that rocks, but it meanders into the murky swamp of “meh”.  Bet you’ll never guess that “Ring Around Her Finger” is a ballad though, and it’s the sappiest yet.  Singer Emerson Hart affects an annoying falsetto.  This song just stinks.   It’s followed by “Believe Me”, which I guess for lack of better words, we will also call a ballad.  It’s not a rocker, so what is it?  Mid-tempo schlock with xylophone, on an album that needed adrenaline in any form.  It’s atrocious, is what it is.

“Irish” is also embarrassing.  Would you call this a sea shanty?  A rock sea shanty?  I have no friggin’ idea.  Normally I like this kind of thing – rock music with a celtic bent – but maybe I’m just sick of this album and feeling salty.

The album ends on…a ballad.  “Let Me Go”.  It’s so cliche, it could have been music from a Family Guy montage.  Fortunately the song picks up at the end, but until that point, it is the most cliche song on the entire album.  “Let me change my direction, I won’t take their rejection!”  But Emerson…you did change your direction.  You use to have some serious emotion; now you’re punching a clock.  It’s no wonder this was Tonic’s last album before a break up.

The shame of it is, I like these guys.  I adore the first two albums, and I followed Jeff Russo through to his career in TV soundtracks.  The last minute guitar burning on “Let Me Go” is far too little, too late to save this album.

2/5 stars

 

 

REVIEW: Tonic – “If You Could Only See” (1997 CD single)

TONIC – “If You Could Only See” (1997 Polygram CD single)

Tonic’s Lemon Parade was not a bad album at all.  Regardless of the strength of its deep cuts, it is now known for one song: “If You Could Only See”.  It put Tonic on the map, and it also put a bullet in their career.  If you’re over a certain age, you remember the powerful and tasteful ballad from when it hit the charts in 1997.  I had the album already.  I bought it when it first came out, after reading a glowing review in the local paper and seeing a used copy pop in at the Record Store.  Finding Jack Joseph Puig’s name in the producer credits got my attention too.

The single for “If You Could Only See” features the well known album version.  Acoustic, but only until the guitars punch in, this is a ballad with crunch and heart.  It’s a true story of an argument that singer Emerson Hart had with his mother, over a woman she did not approve of.  He simply said “If you could only see the way she loves me, maybe you would understand.”  And with that a song was born.  A hit song.

Three live tracks from Amsterdam round out the CD single.  Album opener “Open Up Your Eyes” is not a lightweight live version either, clocking in at over seven minutes.  Guitars drone and cry until they form the song’s main riff.  It’s not an overly heavy live version, just an awesome one where you can hear all the instruments clearly.  It breaks down in the middle, when the band plays at lower volume and gives the guitar space to just jam.  Great tune, and one that deserved more attention.

“Thick” was never one of the album highlights, but the live version is superior.  The vocals aren’t as high pitched, and it’s a more laid back vibe.  Not perfect, but more appealing than the album.  There’s some cool haphazard guitar shenanigans towards the end that are worth checking out.

Shame that “Casual Affair” is the shortest of the live tracks as it kicks the heaviest.  Not as tight or as slamming as the album version, but live versions are what they are.

These are not the greatest live tracks that have ever been put on a single, but certainly a welcome addition to any Tonic collection.  Their use of slide guitars and acoustics instruments separated them slightly from the rest of the competition.  Vintage live by the original lineup, and why not.

3/5 stars

REVIEW: Tonic – Lemon Parade (1996)

TONIC – Lemon Parade (1996 Polygram)

“If You Could Only See” was both the song the put Tonic on the map, and the one that put the bullet in their career.  If you’re over a certain age, you remember the powerful and tasteful ballad from when it hit the charts in 1997.  I had the album already.  I bought it when it first came out, after reading a glowing review in the local paper and seeing a used copy pop in at the Record Store.  Finding Jack Joseph Puig’s name in the producer credits got my attention too.

Tonic’s debut Lemon Parade is a great sounding CD, thanks to Puig and the richly arranged guitars of Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo.  When the guitars are center stage, all is well.  The opening duo of “Open Up Your Eyes” and “Casual Affair” have the punch that people don’t always associate with Tonic.  These guys could play.  “Casual Affair” in particular has angst and emotion ripping out of those six-strings.  When they get heavy, like on “Wicked Soldier”, there is always something bright and chiming going on with backing guitars.  Check out “Celtic Aggression” for a fine example of their guitar expertise.  Emerson Hart has an emotive voice, whether rocking out or serenading the ballads.

It’s the ballads the people remember, and you have to admit that when you break it down, “If You Could Only See” is a fantastic song.  Layers of chiming, chugging and sliding guitars are right there beneath the core melodies.  On the mandolin-infused “Mountain”, plus “Soldier’s Daughter” and “Lemon Parade”, you can absolutely hear old-tyme southern influences creeping through.  Tonic have traits that sound as if from another era, in many ways.  These are actually quite great songs, largely forgotten because of that one hit.

There are only a few songs that don’t score top marks:  “Thick” (no hooks), “Mr. Golden Deal” & “My Old Man” (both too sleepy).  The rest is pretty solid.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Tonic – Sugar (1999)

TONIC – Sugar (1999 Universal)

Why did Tonic never make it big? Maybe they didn’t have enough of their own identity, maybe it was the 90’s, maybe it was the “one hit wonder” stigma. Whatever it was, I tweaked onto this band in April of ’96 thanks to a positive review in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record (probably by Robert Reid).  I thought their modern rock take on their classic roots was interesting and full of integrity. Indeed, this band didn’t seem to be about following the flavour of the week, but by reaching back to 70’s rock roots in a modern context.

Sugar, the second album, was the one where it all came together. Not one weak track on the whole bloody CD. The slow songs are sweeter, the hard songs are angrier. Something must have happened to Emerson Hart to really tick him off. Girl problems. From “Knock Down Walls”:  “So don’t tell me that I’ve gone crazy, you’re the one who tried to fucking change me…”  Emmerson also begs the question, “Why do you have to be so fucking mean to me?” on the track “Mean To Me”.

Whatever his inspiration, the anger struck a chord with me. Yet the slow songs like “Waltz With Me” were beautiful, gorgeous, full of love.  It’s not a heavy album, but it rocks and has a level of quality that was often absent in the mainstream rock music of the late 90’s.  Sugar is loaded with layers of electric, slide and acoustic guitars, great drumming, great singing, and relatable lyrics. The songs themselves are packed with variety and quality. Really, this should have been a huge album in 1999, and the biggest hit of Tonic’s career, but they were never trendy. Shame. They deserved more than the one hit.

Highlights:
The whole album, but I especially love “Drag Me Down”, “Mean To Me”, “Knock Down Walls”, “Sugar”, “Future Says Run”, “Waiting For The Light To Change”.

4.5/5 stars