This is another CD I bought at a sale for €0,99 without having listened to it before. All I knew about Drowning Pool was that they're an American nu metal band. I'll admit the album cover drew my attention. There's no lack of sexploitation album covers in metal, but this one was either stupider than most, or a successful joke. I, at least, thought it was funny: from the pentagrams of her bikini top to the softball bat she's holding (what do you think it symbolizes?) everything about the cover model is over the top. Maybe it's an inside joke or pun - new singer Jason Jones' and cover star Jesse Jane's names are quite similar-sounding, I don't think it's a coincidence. Otherwise why use a notorious pornstar, when any pretty model would have done the trick? On the other hand, maybe they were re-assuring their audience that, despite of suddenly losing their original lead singer to a heart attack at the age of 30, they weren't about to deliver something dark and depressive. Or maybe it was a covert message to their predominately young male fans: we know what you like, and we're about to give it to you.
And they do, provided the fans wanted big fat riffs and growling vocals. Opener "Think" has a typically aggressive vocal alternating low menacing growls and throaty shouts. Like many of the songs here, the lyrics are once dark and life-affirming. Singer Jason Jones has said that all his songs are about struggling and about finding the strength to overcome adversity, channeling his experience of being homeless and living on the streets. Next track "Step Up" features a monster riff and catchy chorus. Sounding like a cross between Metallica and Soundgarden, it was a natural choice for lead single, and its inclusion in The Punisher movie gave the album a big commercial push. "Numb","Cast Me Aside", and "Hate" are more typical of the nu metal genre, noisy and with a throat shredding vocal. I myself am more partial to the songs coming closer to hard rock/grunge territory: Jones can do more than just scream and growl, and he proves adept in handling more melodic material, especially in tracks like "This Life" and semi ballad "Love and War". These, along with "Bringing Me Down" and "Forget" invite comparisons ith Alice In Chain and Pearl Jam, while "Killin' Me" reminds me of Rage Againt The Machine, especially in the cool guitar intro. The guitarist is probably the unsung hero of the band, laying lots of nimble solos (e.g. in "This Life", "Bringing Me Down", "Forget" ), his style and use of effects once again similar to RATM' Tom Morello. On the whole this is an above average album in the nu metal genre, but despite heavy coverage for lead single "Step Up" it mustn't have been too successful because the band ditched singer Jason Jones, replacing him first with former SOiL singer Ryan McCombs, and then with Jasen Moreno. The cover art, too, would from now on go for dark and ominous; no more humorous/naughty album covers featuring pornstars. Which I believe makes this, along with Blink-182's Enema of the State, the only rock album featuring an active pornstar on the front cover. That is a small claim on posterity.
**** for Step Up, This Life, Killin' Me
*** for Think, Nothingness, Bringing Me Down, Love And War, Forget,
** for Numb, Cast Me Aside, Hate
No comments:
Post a Comment