TNTs latest disc has been tagged lined by the band as
"The New Territory", hey in fact, that's the name of the disc. It is so very different from
TNT of old that brutal battles in online message forums are occurring at this moment. As you read this, heated arguments are blazing up everywhere that melodic rock is coveted by passionate pro-
"The New Territory" groups and the anti-groups. But why all the commotion? What did the band do to bring down such wrath, such praise, and such...mixed signals?
Tony Harnell parted from
TNT. Creative differences would be the first guess as to his reason why, atleast after sampling a few songs from the new album. Even though he was not the first person to front the band, he is the most beloved, having been with them since the mid 80s and giving his near-perfect voice to classic songs as "10,000 Lovers", anything from the "Intuition" album and a handful of comeback discs through the early 2000s. But he left for (greener?) pastures and the only logical replacement stepped in to take up vocal duties. That would be one Tony Mills, the vocalist from
Shy. The two Tonys have similar vocal ranges with Mills being a little "lighter" and Harnell having the upper hand in versatility. Both men are great singers, and that's simple to check on by digging out any
Shy release you find on hand. Mills would fit perfectly into the
AOR pop rock of catchy
TNT anthems and buttery ballads. Yet this theory hasn't been tested yet.
However, this new album is very different. Changing a band that has such an established sound causes fans to become riled up, skeptical and disappointed in general.
TNT tested these waters with the ill received "Firefly" and again with "Transistor". "Transistor" twisted the old sound into a fresh take that remained catchy, pop friendly and unmistakably
TNT. There were similarities to the old albums, especially in the melodic choruses, machine gun guitar work, vocal harmonies and overall song structure. It was a disc they took very seriously, polished it up and presented themselves proudly in a new light while remaining recognizable as the band we knew and loved.
"The New Territory" does none of these things. It has more in common with struggling garage bands, searching desperately to find a gimmick to get them off the bottom rung and out of their parents basement. The songs are poorly patched together, melodies are either lost or victims to a poor production, and the band makes a stab at juvenile humor. It was like the disc was recorded by a bunch of drunk high schoolers for a demo level laugh, just learning their trade, not by a superstar band that has a huge fanbase and a ton of albums under their belt. Humor is one of the most difficult things to transfer over to musical form and succeed at it. Everyone likes Weird Al Yankovich, but its a novelty thing. Even closer to home, crazy Germans
Edguy have given us a few punchy songs like "Lavatory Love Machine", but the naughty humor is sprinkled up into a hell of a sing-a-long song. Not paraded out as the main "attraction" to sink or swim on its own merits like the dreadful tongue-in-cheek spoken credits listed as
"Let's Party Mills". Another clue that they just might have had a few too many when they thought the songs on here were good ideas.
Which they aren't. And the album is rushed when not trying to be quirky for the sake of it. Its like a secret joke that no one's getting and a punch line that fizzles once you do figure it out. That's not the mark of classic music. That's the sign of a flash in the pan band desperate for attention. Which perhaps they are, since Harnell bailed on them. And its easy to see why if this disc was proposed while he was still on the payroll.
Taking a look at the songs, you get some truly strange rockers.
"Something Special" actually manages to find the
TNT trademark and stamp it into the song. But it rips off of Motley Crue's "Dr Feelgood" for the guitar riff and melts down an array of 70s acts to get their point across. And its very, very repetitive.
"Are You Blind" has a decent melody but is rough around the edges and flat in the middle.
"Now We're Talking" is utter trash. Oh its supposed to be humorous, but after one or two listens it itself is the joke. As the title suggests, there is less singing and more or less - talking. Spoken word voices slathered in an exaggerated accent that does nothing more lyrically than roll off a batch of Beatles song titles. A gimmicky, throwaway track that would be embarrassing if it was a bonus or a B-side single. As a regular song in the "normal" running order of the retail album, its an absolute disgrace.
"June" is straight out of the 50s. Call it nu-retro. Call it whatever. It's a boring crooner track that aspires to be golden oldie elevator music recorded for public playback to soothe the oldies at the local nursing home. And it succeeds! Much to the horror of anyone searching for those few shreds of enjoyment left in this tattered album.
"2 Seconds Away" throws a few curveballs but sticks to the basics more than it tries to deviate from them. Thick guitars stick to the song like mud with rocks in it. Not great, just kind of subpar, bordering on the annoying with those piercing
"yeah yeah yeahs". Oh make it stop...
"Fountain of Love" is also a repetitive nightmare. It has these weird effects washed vocals that screech in an unstable falsetto. The female backup vocals are strange, there's this eerie sweetness that catches the attention and then it turns downward into a muddy, thick and heavy atmosphere. The changes are sudden, bouncing from one extreme to the other and causes it to tangle in its own drive for uniqueness. Just an awkward, halfway realized track.
Now with the decent stuff.
"Wild Life" is cruising high on old
TNT. The 70s schtick and warped comedy has been shelved as the band tumbles through a fine melodic song. The chorus is charged and plays out like something from LeTekro's Vagabond excursions. Electric guitar is snazzy and classy, vintage
TNT. Not as good as material from their past but on an album full of turkeys and failed experiments, this is a real breath of fresh air.
"Substitute" spits venom and rocks on with a vicious poppy fire. The pop feel clashes against the growling, guttural guitars and leaves a warped feeling overall. The halting approach which leaves the next word in the series to the imagination. It gives this herky-jerky feel and then it steps into a breezing chorus that just flows on by. Two worlds collided here and the result is alright. Mills actually manages to wrangle it to decent status by turning in a great vocal performance. For what he's asked to do here, he does it well, thus lending an authentic feel to this gritty rock track.
"Milestone River" likely has the most long lasting appeal of the bunch. A slow to unfurl, relaxed atmospheric ballad, this has a haunting feel that is captured nicely by subtle effects and the shimmering, spectral vocals of Mills.
"Can't Go On Without" sees Mills channeling some of that Harnell magic. This could have worked as a
Westworld track. The silly happy chorus is gleefully cute in a saccharine 70s (not-so) innocence way. A really nice pop rock song that sees some psychedelic guitar work, electric notes stretching and warping like a kaleidoscope.
"Golden Opportunity" has these weird
"nanana's" for a vocal melody that comes out of the 60s way of songwriting. The rest of the music is downtuned aggressive and choking on the blues. Its weird, but unexpectedly catchy. I can see this growing with repeated listens like the unique "Mousetrap" did so many years ago.
Many have totally written the band off after hearing this album. It's easy to see why, and disappointing that
TNT believed they could put such a rushed sounding record on the market and the fans would eat it up. Just because it was
TNT and because they expected something different. Of course the band is not going to be the same after losing such an iconic singer, but they moved forward and became famous after losing the first vocalist, so another change of guard in the line of frontman shouldn't be the death toll. Even the songs that seem average-acceptable like
"Wild Life" or
"Substitute" lose further momentum by the flat-as a pancake production. There seems to be energy but its misplaced and misguided, buried behind the tinny flat sound. The worst are laughable and its hard to imagine why anyone thought they were good enough ideas to make it off the cutting room floor. Sure,
"Now We're Talking" might have seemed
"cute" after a few beers, but what happened when they sobered up? They still thought it was a brilliant idea? Someone needs to quality check their work before they unleash it on the world. It is songs such as this that makes you wonder just how big a part
Tony Harnell played in this band. Without him they aren't only expectedly different, but the quality has taken a nose dive so deep that this album drowned.
The band is capable of doing something much better than this, and here's hoping they actually accept and consider the feed-back-lash that ensued after
"The New Territory" went to market. LeTekro is a great guitarist and capable of writing good songs. Tony Mills is a singer that has a great track record and a voice to match. Together they can put together something that sounds fresh but is still
TNT. A
TNT of the future. But this gimmicky, quirky album that's all over the map - simply is not it. Better luck next time.
Written by
Alanna Monday, May 21, 2007
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