In what will hopefully be a new weekly column, I am going to review at least one new record released each week. This week's selection was an easy one for me. As a life-long avid fan, I chose the new 311 album, Don't Tread on Me.
DTOM is the band's ninth studio album (including the Greatest Hits 93-03 disc which featured two new songs) and shows a continued evolution by the group. The early albums like Music, Grassroots, and Transistor were all hard rocking albums that featured their trademark blend of raggae/rock/metal.
The albums that have followed have all mellowed out and taken on an island chill feel to them. They have chose to stick more to melodic laid back writing, than heavy chord and bass driven rock, which is a bit of a shame because the group features some of the best individual musicians in Chad Sexton (drums), Tim Mahoney (lead guitar) and P-Nut (bass).
This album has some songs that remind you of singles and b-sides off the From Chaos disc (Thank Your Lucky Stars, Solar Flare, and Long for the Flowers) but it never hits the level they did on the first four discs. Whiskey and Wine and There's Always an Excuse have the same sound that came across on the Evolver album.
The first single and lead track, Don't Tread on Me starts the album off with a hard rocking single that features a catchy bass line and sounds like a song Bob Marley would do if he experimented with hard rock.
As a self-professed rabid fan I would give this five stars, as a music fan I'd probably give it 3, 3.5 at best. The fact is they are a live band who has gotten to the point of releasing studio albums for the sole purpose of touring. On a 12 track disc, they usually hit 3 or four home runs.
Rating: ***
Key Tracks: Don't Tread on Me, Frolic Room, Waiting, Speak Easy, Getting Through to Her, Always an Excuse.
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1 comment:
I can't say I am a huge 311 fan, I really don't know much of their music, but this was a very insightful post, quite thorough. Good work.
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