Rival Sons

WTF Comments: Everyone’s a Critic edition

MUPPET-CRITICS

WTF Comments II: Everyone’s a Critic edition

Jeez, everyone’s a critic these days! Even critics have critics! Welcome to another installment of WTF Comments. This time I collected comments from readers who had a bone (or two, or three) to pick with my reviews!  I realize that sometimes my reviews can be a bit acerbic, but I calls ’em like I sees ’em.  Sometimes I can be a bit harsh, but it’s all in fun.  It serves me right to have some critics of my own take some shots at me! First up, Bryan did not like my 3.5/5 (70%) review for the Rival Sons. Bryan’s comment was lengthy so I took the liberty of highlighting the parts I like best!

your gimmicky comment is idiotic. They record with real vintage gear because they are trying to create that vibe not for one song, but that’s who they are and frankly I’m glad. So much of what is out now is 150 tracks of productions and tricks that cater to the ADD society who needs a new sound effect coming at them every 10 seconds to keep their attention. Just enjoy the fact that these are guys are setting up a few mics into some of the best gear studios can pull out of the closet and they deliver great songs that they can actually reproduce live with backing tracks…hey, there’s a concept. If you can appreciate that you shouldn’t be reviewing music…you know..music???

also, STOP comparing them to Led Zeppelin just because the drums are open mic’d and there’s space. Go back and read the reviews when Zep was playing…the critics killed them…but somehow now their the greatest thing ever. Have you ever hear them live? I love Zep but Jay Buchanan can hit EVERY note on the album live, Plant couldn’t do that a lot of the time. But I don’t even compare the two, just enjoy the band without having to pigeon hole them. Basically your saying here’s this band, but we don’t really validate them because I heard something similar before. The album has potential…Geez.. the album kicks ass so just get past yourself and get on board. How about this for a review…”Hey everyone, in this day and age of laptops and samples, finally a band just plugs in and records to tape and here it is…enjoy some great rock with soul and vibe and enjoy these guys laying it out there while not pitch correcting and time aligning everything. AND, when you see them live they’ll sound like what you heard on your iPod, how refreshing. Rival Sons should be applauded and you should buy the CD”.

:-)

Thanks, Bryan!  I always thought being compared to the mighty Zeppelin was quite a compliment, myself. Then there’s Dave.  Dave also does not think much of my writing skills, in regards to Triumph’s 1986 turd The Sport of Kings:

This article is pretty lame. Please do some research before you post stuff like this. Triumph had issue with the producer Ron Nevison. He wanted them to have a hit single and he was trying to craft the songs to be radio friendly. The band had been pretty much cranking out an album a year for the whole decade and touring in between and the record company was demanding more. The band was spent! Some of the songs aren’t as strong as previous outings, but it sounds like you were never much of a fan in the first place. Never be embarrassed about the music you like…whether it’s Triumph, Kenny G or Michael Jackson. I like what I like and i don’t care what anyone else thinks!

Somebody needs to tell Dave that you don’t have to be “much of a fan” to write a music review!

Then lastly, there’s scm.  He or she isn’t a person of many words, but smc didn’t think too much of my Man of Steel movie review.

You continue writing articles about what great screen writers & film makers bring son. Man of Steel 4.5/5.

For the record: I am not scm’s son!  Hope you enjoyed these comments.

 

REVIEW: Rival Sons – Great Western Valkyrie (2014)

folderRIVAL SONS – Great Western Valkyrie (2014 Earache)

From Long Beach, California, here are the Rival Sons!  They have come to save hard rock.  Gene Simmons is a fan, so let’s check ’em out.  Great Western Valkyrie is their fourth album, but until last year I’d never heard of them.

Rival Sons are groove.  They are old fashioned.  I hear early influences from as far and wide as Sammy Hagar and soul rock.  “Electric Man” exemplifies this.  If the guitar player were the flashy type, you could mistake this for a new Chickenfoot composition.  Radio loves this kind of song right now.  It has vibes of the Trews and Royal Blood; the groove of bands like Death From Above 1969 but with a bluesy singing voice.  They apply a distortion and reverb to the lead vocal, which does sound cool but strikes me as a bit gimmicky.

I found the second track, “Good Luck” to be a bit dull.  Rival Sons seem to have psychedelic rock influences too, which isn’t really my bag, baby.  “Secret” features singing Jay Buchanan doing his best Robert Plant blues voice, and it’s another ferociously grooving track.  The riff is similar to “High Time” by Leadfoot, and the groove recalls “How Many More Times” from Led Zeppelin I.  “Let me tell you a secret, and I know you’re gonna keep it!” screams Buchanan over a killer bass groove.  Then “Play the Fool” utilizes a simple, stop-and-start rock riff, and a wicked time change.  “Good Things” has a dusky nightclub feel.  This is the song on which I’ll step out and take a pee.  It’s still playing when I get back, because it’s almost six minutes long.

Track 6 is “When the Levee Breaks”…Err, I mean the single “Open My Eyes”.  Sounds suspiciously like Zeppelin there.  You may have heard this one on the radio (I have).  It’s a great track, but undeniably based entirely upon Led Zeppelin.  The echo on the drums is lifted directly from Bonham and there are even acoustic breaks.  Back in the 1980’s there was a band called Kingdom Come that got raked over the coals for copping some Zep influences and milking it, but that’s nothing compared to “Open My Eyes”.  It’s a Zeppelin rip pure and simple!  That’s fine…enough time has passed that nobody cares anymore (plus Zeppelin ripped off everybody else).

“Rich and Poor” slows the pace, bringing us back to the psychedelic 60’s.  If the Doors had a different singer, maybe this is how they would sound.  I don’t particularly like the Doors, so onto the next one, “Belle Starr”. This song goes from fast to slow sections…just when I thought they were givin’ ‘er again, they slowed it down.  I’m just itching for some rock again.  Oh, there it goes!  This track is almost grungy, especially with that rolling bass underneath recalling Soundgarden.  I hear Rush influences too.  I’m not 100% sold on “Belle Starr”.  Not yet, anyway.  Led Zeppelin is all over “Where I’ve Been” too, in an epic quality.  Finally “Destination on Course” closes the album on a distinctly bluesy note.  Singer Buchanan really blows the doors off, and the angelic backing vocals have me forgetting that “LZ” band for a change.  The bluesy guitar solo is icing on the cake — just awesome.  On a track like this, Rival Sons establish their own sound.

Great Western Valkyrie is an album I look forward to checking out more in the future.  I think it has potential.  I know there are bonus tracks on other editions, which I have not investigated.  If I end up liking the band enough, I will check them out.

3.5/5 stars

 

1. “Electric Man” (Take You to the Sugar Shack) 3:20
2. “Good Luck” (It’s Going to Hurt Right Now) 3:18
3. “Secret” (Just Bring Me a Jar Full of Shine) 4:41
4. “Play the Fool” (The Way That Girls Talk) 3:18
5. “Good Things” (Boy with a Bomb in His Jacket) 5:56
6. “Open My Eyes” (Folding Like a Jack Knife) 3:56
7. “Rich and the Poor” (Her Teeth Bound by Braces) 5:15
8. “Belle Starr” (The Gem Inside Sparkles Yet) 4:35
9. “Where I’ve Been” (The Habit Wasn’t Cheap) 6:18
10. “Destination on Course” (Slipped from the Rail) 7:06