01. Lone Rider
02. Crossing Lines
03. Buried Alive
04. Train Song
05. Get Yourself Alright
06. Fault Line
07. What Comes Around...
08. Grace
09. So Into You
10. Best Of Me
11. One of These Days
Smoke On This is the debut solo album from the legendary Pantera/Down/Kill Devil Hill
bass player. I saw Rex jump on stage
with the appallingly bad Philip Anselmo
and The Illegals at Download
festival 2014 to play a cover of Pantera's A New
Level, and it was truly sad. Rex
could still play, but he looked skinny and gaunt, like a man on death's door. I
felt a little disturbed looking at him, and I honestly thought that he wasn't
long for this world. I know that's a fucked up way to start a review, but I'm
really happy that three years later, I'm sitting here writing about his
excellent new album as opposed to his obituary.
If you thought Smoke On This was going to be a super
heavy album like something from Down
or Pantera, you'll be surprised.
It's more like Southern Classic Rock than brutal Metal, but with a contemporary
twist. To my ears, it sounds like Soundgarden
mixed with AC/DC and a twist of Black Stone Cherry, which is fine by
me.
With the exception of the
first Down album, this is my
favourite record from any of the ex-Pantera
members. It's not breaking any musical barriers, but still sounds new and
interesting mainly due to the simple fact that it's full of well crafted songs,
all brought to life with a 'top of the range' production. This style of music
is both timeless and hugely popular, and Rex
is doing it just as well as anyone else out there, including the artists that
are filling stadiums worldwide.
No comments
Post a Comment