ADRENALINE MOB
Listening to Adrenaline Mob’s new EP might feel like nothing out of the ordinary with its offering of classic riffs and familiar sounding lyrics. Mostly because that was their intention!‘Dearly Departed’ offers remixes and covers of some of Adrenaline Mob’s better songs along with tracks from Queen, Black Sabbath and they’ve even dared to cover ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’. I had a good experience listening to this nine track EP and, while it might seem like my overall score and some impressions are slightly negative, I would like to say I’m very happy with what I’ve heard.
Having been a longtime fan of lead singer Russel Allen through his work in Symphony X, I found myself slightly shocked I haven’t spent much time enjoying his effort put in, thus far, with Adrenaline Mob. Could the aged voice I hear in tracks like ‘Crystal Clear’ and ‘Dearly Departed’ be the same that left me in tears with ‘The Odyssey’ back in 2002? Memories of epic, symphonic guitar and keyboard in perfect uninterrupted unison for twenty four minutes seem like 1,000 years ago, not to mention completely unrelated to what we’re listening to with this Adrenaline Mob release. And having been familiar with AJ Pero’s drum work with Twisted Sister and Erik Leonhardt’s bass work from Tantric, there’s no doubt serious talent in the most important areas of the band. The historic basslines and drum beats will have no problem taking this super group to the promised lands. Can all of these legendary pieces come together to make a release that is truly special?
The opening track is ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’. I wouldn’t have been surprised had I heard this track on our local rock n’ roll radio stations as it fits in with just about every universal rock track I’ve ever heard. Pat Travers’ classic didn’t really offer anything revolutionary to the metal scene and this cover calls in more of the same. The radio edit of ‘Dearly Departed’ seems like just about what you would expect with clean vocals, nice pacing from beginning to end. Allen’s singing from the opening of the song and in the chorus really shows where he can take his voice. I enjoyed this track a little more each time I listened.
The covers of Queen’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, a medley of Black Sabbath and Charlie Daniels Band’s ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ are mostly appealing. Freddy Mercury’s vocals are completely unmatched, but it was very exciting to see Allen transform the song into something of his own while playing to his strengths. Hearing Black Sabbath being covered by this group somehow felt odd during the first hearing and, while you could definitely get used to it, there was just something over produced and missing soul. It has an Adrenaline Mob style to the drudging everyone loves from Sabbath, but it comes across somewhat weak. With that being said, ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ is an absolute treat! This track could be shared with just about anyone and is great throughout its short 3:29 duration. It’s a sped up version of one of the most legendary blue grass tunes of all time. Matter of fact, I wish there was just one more verse to this track so I wouldn’t have to listen to it on repeat!
I actually consider the acoustic reprises of ‘Crystal Clear’, ‘Angel Sky’ and ‘All on the Line’ to be the best parts of this entire collection. I’m not very familiar with the originals, but consider these three tracks to be what I’d like to hear more of from Adrenaline Mob. You can really feel the bass of Leonhardt’s Tantric influence in these songs which I’m a HUGE fan of. They might want to consider doing an entire acoustic reprise of their best songs or perhaps covers of other classics. I would be first in line to pick up more of this!
All in all, I did enjoy what I heard and would recommend it for a mostly easy listening evening and some good party music with ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’ and ‘Gets you through the Night’. While there isn’t exactly the most depth to this release, it’s definitely something every Adrenaline Mob fan should own.
Having been a longtime fan of lead singer Russel Allen through his work in Symphony X, I found myself slightly shocked I haven’t spent much time enjoying his effort put in, thus far, with Adrenaline Mob. Could the aged voice I hear in tracks like ‘Crystal Clear’ and ‘Dearly Departed’ be the same that left me in tears with ‘The Odyssey’ back in 2002? Memories of epic, symphonic guitar and keyboard in perfect uninterrupted unison for twenty four minutes seem like 1,000 years ago, not to mention completely unrelated to what we’re listening to with this Adrenaline Mob release. And having been familiar with AJ Pero’s drum work with Twisted Sister and Erik Leonhardt’s bass work from Tantric, there’s no doubt serious talent in the most important areas of the band. The historic basslines and drum beats will have no problem taking this super group to the promised lands. Can all of these legendary pieces come together to make a release that is truly special?
The opening track is ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’. I wouldn’t have been surprised had I heard this track on our local rock n’ roll radio stations as it fits in with just about every universal rock track I’ve ever heard. Pat Travers’ classic didn’t really offer anything revolutionary to the metal scene and this cover calls in more of the same. The radio edit of ‘Dearly Departed’ seems like just about what you would expect with clean vocals, nice pacing from beginning to end. Allen’s singing from the opening of the song and in the chorus really shows where he can take his voice. I enjoyed this track a little more each time I listened.
The covers of Queen’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, a medley of Black Sabbath and Charlie Daniels Band’s ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ are mostly appealing. Freddy Mercury’s vocals are completely unmatched, but it was very exciting to see Allen transform the song into something of his own while playing to his strengths. Hearing Black Sabbath being covered by this group somehow felt odd during the first hearing and, while you could definitely get used to it, there was just something over produced and missing soul. It has an Adrenaline Mob style to the drudging everyone loves from Sabbath, but it comes across somewhat weak. With that being said, ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ is an absolute treat! This track could be shared with just about anyone and is great throughout its short 3:29 duration. It’s a sped up version of one of the most legendary blue grass tunes of all time. Matter of fact, I wish there was just one more verse to this track so I wouldn’t have to listen to it on repeat!
I actually consider the acoustic reprises of ‘Crystal Clear’, ‘Angel Sky’ and ‘All on the Line’ to be the best parts of this entire collection. I’m not very familiar with the originals, but consider these three tracks to be what I’d like to hear more of from Adrenaline Mob. You can really feel the bass of Leonhardt’s Tantric influence in these songs which I’m a HUGE fan of. They might want to consider doing an entire acoustic reprise of their best songs or perhaps covers of other classics. I would be first in line to pick up more of this!
All in all, I did enjoy what I heard and would recommend it for a mostly easy listening evening and some good party music with ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’ and ‘Gets you through the Night’. While there isn’t exactly the most depth to this release, it’s definitely something every Adrenaline Mob fan should own.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Century Media
EP
DEARLY DEPARTED
Review by Joshua Jaeger
RUNNING TIME:
41:48
RELEASE DATE:
9th February 2015
TRACK LISTING
1) Snortin' Whiskey
2) Dearly Departed
3) Devil Went Down to Georgia
4) Crystal Clear
5) Black Sabbath Medley
6) Gets You Through the Night
7) Angel Sky
8) All on the Line
9) Tie Your Mother Down
2) Dearly Departed
3) Devil Went Down to Georgia
4) Crystal Clear
5) Black Sabbath Medley
6) Gets You Through the Night
7) Angel Sky
8) All on the Line
9) Tie Your Mother Down
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
USA
"...definitely something every Adrenaline Mob fan should own."
