May I present to you, The Pride of Crystal Lake, Illinois circa 2010 - Old Ironsides. They may have presented themselves as a knock off of The Mars Volta and Motley Crue and Yngwie, but there's a lot more under the hood than that. A singer from the punk scene, a bass player who loved power metal, a drummer who dug drugs, Neil Young, and the main composer who was listening to Hanz Zimmer at the time.
Blistering out of the gate the first track, aptly titled Breaking Loose (into the sky) propels the album into first gear effortlessly with a riff that blurs the lines between the 80's and the 2000's rock scene. It may first come off as bland but the band quickly tightens up only to release with the reveal of their lead singer, Seth Peterson. Take a punk ethos and blend it with the audacity of Bowie, at least that seems to be the goal. The initial track showcases an invigorating performance with some rather clever lyrics. I don't quote lyrics.
The opener leads to a guitar showcase thats a bit piecemeal but serviceably rocking, only to take the listener to a comfortable double bass groove that lays the foundation to a rather large sounding vamp that could be from a jam band. It's pretty exciting right? BAM - These Eyes, another amazing title, slams out of the gate. To name The Mars Volta again is not mistake, the song swings like Deloused did. Is it that good? No. The ambition is noteworthy, you can hear guitars and drums just being laid into, this is not a joke. Then we hit the bridge....... Seth sings "Well move it, move it shake it baby", the vibe is immediately elevated or trashed, I can't tell ----- What starts as a U2 esque jam evolves into a wall of sound of a guitar solo that sounds to manicured to be real. It's fine, but the word artificial comes to mind. We're 5 minutes 10 seconds in, there's still an extended post-bridge with a rad organ track and some more classic rock induced riffage, it hits. Credit to the tight ending too.
I hope I have your curiosity - Here's a band you can find nothing about, but made quite an album. Above there are two track descriptions, but the record doesn't end there - The first half bangs, the second keeps the pace but doesn't reach the same heights until its end. The Hours of Everyday is an interesting track as it weaves in and out of itself, falling back onto those juicy classic rock riffs as an anchor. Their's a certain 60's swagger present that's hard to verbalize within it too, psychedelic movements interspersed. Dancing In Gobblers Gulch follows, and then Old Ironsides decides to change the formula. A slower tempo and dreary guitars set the mood. Petersons vocals are noteworthy alongside the cribbing of "She's So Heavy", whatever genre the band strove for was achieved. That's the first half of the album.
Track 6, or side B starts with Tomcat, a track with a main riff that sounds lifted straight from an Ozzy album but is excused thanks to its use of melody and a truly gnarly bridge, guitar solo, and whatever section comes after. It's a blast from the past sucrose coated that stirs excitement as grooving riffs come out of nowhere and transform the track from Ozzy to a Whatever Burger. The title track is a bit of a letdown, the one track not written by the guitar duo is inspired but is lackluster in its production. I see what they were going for - big riffs, big vocals, slow tempo - but the execution feels off in comparison to the rest of the album. It's main melody hits but the guitars underneath seem a little shallow. All I need (more classic titles) sounds like the B-side to These Eyes as it's inferior version, except it has a massive guitar solo straight out of a noise rock playbook. All I need keeps the excitement level up, it's quite engaging, but another long solo section really sucks out its energy. Track 9, White Chapel Vigilante - The necessary acoustic track, finally. It's surprisingly good. The title gives a better idea of its sound than I can write.
We have reached the albums epilogue, The March to War, twelve minutes of goodness split into three different songs. Name any early 70's prog band, the song in structure is influenced by them, but the sonics are going elsewhere. Immediately, the vocals command your attention alongside soaring guitar work. An angular lick leads into the "verse" which is complimented by a middle eastern tinged lead. Follow that with a surreal "bridge", a breakdown leading to a ripping solo, a two minutes acoustic interlude, and then my favorite part of the album (track 12) "Redemption". It's super groovy and has a rather convincing vocoder effect to raise some hairs.
In all, as I spread my ears and write this review it's become apparent to me this album is awesome despite it's few cringe inducing moments there's a lot of attitude. I love it's original sound and the excitement that you can clearly hear in the recording. Sometimes hungry bands lose though.
