This performance salutes Molly Hatchet's 25-year career with inclusion of Bounty Hunter, Gator Country and Dreams I'll never see from their self-titled debut album onto tracks from the latest studio album "Kingdom of XII" from 2001.

The group was formed with 3 guitarists, and they have continued their guitar based southern rock. The guitar work is blistering with long time member Bobby Ingram as a solid player.

The line-up has changed quite a lot throughout their career. No founding members are in the band anymore. Current singer Phil McCormack has a tough voice, oozing of bourbon whiskey and southern accent.

The album was recorded in Germany. With a playing time of almost 2 hours there is plenty of goodies to satisfy all Molly Hatchet fans and fans of southern rock in general.

Some of the new songs prove that Molly Hatchet doesn't survive entirely on their strong back catalogue. Tatanka is one of the newer songs, which stands out from the 1996 album "Devil's Canyon". Also The Journey from same album is excellent with a great melodic signature riff.

Album highlight is a brilliant version of the classic Fall of the Peacemaker. The song is a breathtaking tribute to Vietnam veterans, prisoners of war and those missing in action. The tone on Bobby Ingram's lead guitar is emotional creating a special mood to the song's strong message. The song fades into an acoustic western style intro of Saddle Tramp, which is another newly addition to the Molly Hatchet song catalogue. With a playing time of more than 9 minutes this song has everything characterizing Molly Hatchet, namely long guitar solos and tough booze vocals.

Phil McCormack is a great vocal replacement and he does original singer Danny Joe Brown justice. The band is tight, consisting of great players only.

When Molly Hatchet blasts out their passionate southern Rock they make me forget all about Lynyrd Skynyrd etc.

Pour a nice drink of Bourbon and crank it up - Hell Yeah

Written by Michael
Monday, April 14, 2003
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Ratings

Michael: 7.5/10

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Comment by Cork (Anonymous) - Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Could not have asked for a better catolog of songs to include on this 2 cd set. Not only do the newest songs prove Hatchet is still kickin' ass and taking names, but that they have only gotten better with age. Keyboardist John Galvin is still in the band and bangs the ivories as well as ANY other. Just listen to the intro to Dreams. Russ Maxwell is as rock solid and steady as anyone who you never hear about can be. The recording of this set might be a little rough/raw for some, but that's "Live" for ya. Just turn it up and Let the Good Times Roll. Hell Yeah!!

Comment by Walt Todd (Anonymous) - Friday, October 17, 2003

This is the closest you'll come without actually seeing them live! These guys rock the way Rock & Roll was meant to be. HELL YEAH!!!!

Comment by Shawn (Anonymous) - Thursday, February 5, 2004

I purchased this CD recently and was just blown away! The band is awesome live! I highly recommend this CD as it was instantly a favorite. I give it 10 stars easily!