Moving way beyond his days as just an Ozzy sideman, establishing himself as one of the last true guitar heroes, or should I say, he is going to bring real playing back to light, rather than all of these psuedo-punk/alternative rockers that seem to get all of the attention for their ever so amateur bar-chord bullshit.
Zakk Wylde is the real deal, playing his Les Paul to full frontal crunch, smashing the balls of all the pussy posers who fake their status as players.
With all of his
Black Label Society records being thick and heavy outings,
Hangover Music in particular carries that same tradition, but Wylde has taken it further. Mixing the dark songwriting of
1919 Eternal and some of the acoustic of the singer-songwriter oriented
Book of Shadows, Wylde creates a mystical and dark passage through mood driven tracks that are within a creation of some of his best work.
Opening up with
"Crazy or High," beginning as an acoustic track, but yet leading into a heavy cut; one thing in particular is that during the first half of the chorus, the bass is pounding and the crash symbol is clanging, but no guitar crunch, almost as if Wylde is playing with our minds, then when the guitar kicks in, its like, OK there it is, he shows us how important is backup band is with that trick.
Hangover Music has a 50/50 balance of heavy versus rough emotion; Heavy cuts like
"Steppin' Stone," with the properly placed melodic scream, the rockin' acoustic
"No Other," the Sabbath-esque
"Layne," and the highlight,
"House of Doom," with the bright twelve-string and chorus laden guitar riffs; complimented by the heavy guitar throttle that only Wylde do in his own way; are at the metallic heart of the record.
It's songs like the soulful
"Woman Don't Cry," the piano ballad rendition of
"Whiter Shade of Pale," and the long lost Book of Shadows songs
"Once More," "She Deserves a Free Ride," and
"Fear," which are the records mood driven cuts.
Hangover Music is filled with the signature solos, his baritone vocals, and his sense to move the listener. A much stronger record than
The Blessed Hellride, featuring more solid songs and bigger diversified production, but regardless, it easy to see why
Zakk Wylde is making fans outside of the Metal realm, why, because he is the real deal, and when metal becomes more prominent, he will be one of the patron saints of that movement, well, he already is. Play at maximum volume.
Written by
Hashman Monday, July 5, 2004
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