Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Album Of The Day-Roadsaw-"See You In Hell" (2008)

The Album Of The Day is "See You In Hell" by Roadsaw.



Review:

At the 2005 Emissions from the Monolith Festival, Roadsaw frontman Craig Riggs admonished the crowd to "Maintain the fuckin' yeah." We wouldn't expect any less in return from the seminal Boston band and their back from the dead reunion album, See You in Hell.

Especially since See You in Hell, the first new material in roughly six years, boasts not only 3/4 of the line-up from 2002's Rawk n' Roll (Craig Riggs – vocals, Tim Catz – bass, Ian Ross – guitar, with drummer Hari Hassin replaced by Cortez' Jeremy Hemond) but also original lead guitarist Darryl Shepard, who last played with the band on 1997's Nationwide. That makes this version of the band a sort of supergroup, and that ups the level of expectation.

After a cute/pointless introduction that reminiscent of the music played at the end of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the band delivers as promised. “Who Do You Think You Are” is a gut puncher of a song that's about as classic Roadsaw as you can get. It's got a heavy, pummeling main riff, a driving rhythm, soulful vocals, a shit hot solo, and plenty of attitude. “Look Pretty Lonely,” the second track, doesn't miss a beat either. It's reminiscent of past bruisers like “Satellite” and “Bad Ass Rising” - it just lays into you relentlessly.

Come to think of it, See You In Hell is pretty much exactly what's needed until the eighth track, “Dead Horse.” This ballad isn't bad, but it does sound more like an outtake from Antler, the mellower, more Southern rock leaning group that Riggs and Catz started up in the first part of this decade. There are a handful of other tracks where Roadsaw slows things down a touch (“The Rules,” the title track, “Leavin',” and “Receive”), but in those cases they don't come off so mawkish.

Most reunion albums fall short of expectations, but not so with See You in Hell. There may not be any surprises – Roadsaw is as Roadsaw does – but there are enough killer, no bullshit riffs to maintain the fuckin' yeah for a long time. Recommended.

(John Pegoraro, StonerRock.com)

Track Listing:

01. Intro
02. Who do You Think You Are
03. Look Pretty Lonely
04. Go it Alone
05. The Rules
06. See You in Hell
07. Up to You
08. Dead Horse
09. Leavin
10. It's Your Move
11. Receive

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