Style: hard rock, punk
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1996
Home: n/a
Members: Steve Jones, Duff McKagan ~ guitar/vocals
Matt Sorum ~ drums/vocals
John Taylor ~ bass/vocals
Additional: Jerry Harrison ~ piano/organ
I've previously positively reviewed an album by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, so when I saw this one album only supergroup with him, Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses & John Taylor of Duran Duran, I couldn't resist lending an ear. First, Duff plays guitar here, passing the bass to the better bassist in John Taylor. Next, Steve & John did most of the writing, so its coming from a musical direction where you shouldn't let the name of G'N'R fool you. Expect nothing of G'N'R here. You'll find none of their melodies, or Slash's bluesy riffs, or Axl's iconic singing. Also, put aside this might be like Duran Duran, given John is penning these songs. The only thing you should expect is some gritty non-pretentious balls to the wall rock like Steve has been doing since the beginning. If you like your rock punkish & nasty, without any guitar hero antics, from the gut & not too fancy, going at full speed, than this album will likely be of interest. This is rough & tumble & loose in a way that might be compared to the Hollywood Rose days, if one absolutely needs a comparison. The solos are noisy breaks from the chugging chords. The guys rotate vocals, with nobody really being too amazing to overshadow the others. If you know Duff's vocals from his solo stuff than you'll have the right frame of mind. The rhythm section, meanwhile, is clobbering down the door with an endless belting. This is snarling rock'n'roll coming out of the punk mold, but with some interesting vocal tweaks that give it a slight '90's edge at times (i.e. "Always Wrong", "Feelings Are Good", "Revolution"). At other times its a bit cheeky & sounds like its trying to be radio friendly without losing its edge (i.e. "Angelina" & "Jerk" I could hear covered by XTC), but then sometimes its going for more of a punk vibe ("Good News" would have found a nice spot on Duff's solo debut). The fact that these musicians cover three distinct eras in music is an interesting side note, while they turn out something that doesn't really sound like any of them. The acoustic "Better Way" comes out of nowhere sounding like a David Bowie song, almost hauntingly so. Its an interesting well composed song, maybe the best on the album, but seriously is out of place on a punk driving chord slashing album. Even when the electric guitars kick in, its still a thousand times better crafted than any song on the album, & for that it stands out by light years. I would have included it as a bonus track to not mess up the rolling flow of the rest of the songs. This song has a companion piece in the slow "Story Of My Life" which is a moody melodic alt-rocker that also sounds very different than the rest of the album. But, don't think about it too hard. Don't overthink this album at all, just enjoy it as a hidden treasure by a group of guys you grew up with & having a fun time doing something different.
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