HARD ROCK
FORUM
Post by Monsters of Rock on May 18, 2021 19:02:11 GMT 10
Ted Nugent: Free-for-All
The great Holen MaGroin is always trying his best to try and introduce new music to me and while I often break his heart with a well-placed “It’s aright”, he does occasionally recommend some very good stuff. In this case he sent me one of the songs from this album which, in conjunction with Meatloaf being on the album, was enough to get me to give the whole album a listen. Now we are no strangers to controversy here at the triple M, but we draw the line at politics. We’re here for the music, and so we shall begin with it.
We start with upbeat opener “Free For All”. It’s a pretty good song, with a solo to match. Nugent’s also a competent enough vocalist to not sound out of place, especially when compared to the other two vocalists on the album, such as Derek St Holmes on the next song, “Dog Eat Dog”. This one is the one Holen showed me, and after hearing the full album I can say that it is my second favorite song. The guitar playing has a bit more fire to it, and the two part solo, going from a slower and more explorative one to a more explosive one, works really well. Two part solos are some of my favorites, such as the one in Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper”. And to top it all of “Dog Eat Dog” has a simple, but very effective, hook for maximum enjoyment. And now we come to our first song with Meatloaf on vocals. I am a Meatloaf fan so the prospect of having him sing lead on five of the nine songs really appealed to me, but “Writing on the Wall” doesn’t really do it unfortunately. It’s decent, though not good enough to warrant a replay. Derek St Holmes makes a return on the next song, “Turn It Up”, a return to the faster paced songs of earlier. The riffing may be good, but it’s Holmes’ vocals that are front and center on this one, and he carries that responsibility well. Meatloaf may have done the song better, but Holmes is good enough that I’m not wishing for Meatloaf on there.
Meatloaf does return on “Street Rats”, which definitely helps the song. It’s not the best one on the album, but the riffing is still good and having Meatloaf there definitely helps it. Meatloaf stays for the next song “Together”, which is a ballad. Now I’m sure you know my opinion on most ballads by now and I’m not exactly going to be positive to this one It’s alright, and I suspect Meatloaf has a lot to do with that. It’s just good enough that even though I would never listen to it on its own, I wouldn’t skip it on this album. Holmes makes his final return on the next song, which is “Light My Way”. Another upbeat tune, it’s got good riffing and soloing, but still ends up fading into the background of this album. It didn’t help that it had to precede “Hammerdown”. “Hammerdown” is my favorite song on the album. It plays right to Meatloaf’s strengths of aggressive singing and a great range. The solo is a bit mundane compared to some of the others on the album, but the singing on the verses and chorus is easily enough to offset that. Things are closed by “I Love You So I Told You a Lie”. It’s a bit slower and probably not the song to put after “Hammerdown” or to close the album with. The Loaf/Nuge combo is still enough to make it worth a listen though.
Free For All was a pretty good album. It handles the three vocalists really well and feels like a cohesive whole with no disjoint between the three singers. It might not be my go-to album in any scenario, but if I put it on I’d definitely enjoy it.
The verdict- 3.5/5
Side one
Free-for-All
Dog Eat Dog
Writing on the Wall
Turn It Up
Side two
Street Rats
Together
Light My Way
Hammerdown
I Love You So I Told You a Lie
Mad Metal Man Review website
The great Holen MaGroin is always trying his best to try and introduce new music to me and while I often break his heart with a well-placed “It’s aright”, he does occasionally recommend some very good stuff. In this case he sent me one of the songs from this album which, in conjunction with Meatloaf being on the album, was enough to get me to give the whole album a listen. Now we are no strangers to controversy here at the triple M, but we draw the line at politics. We’re here for the music, and so we shall begin with it.
We start with upbeat opener “Free For All”. It’s a pretty good song, with a solo to match. Nugent’s also a competent enough vocalist to not sound out of place, especially when compared to the other two vocalists on the album, such as Derek St Holmes on the next song, “Dog Eat Dog”. This one is the one Holen showed me, and after hearing the full album I can say that it is my second favorite song. The guitar playing has a bit more fire to it, and the two part solo, going from a slower and more explorative one to a more explosive one, works really well. Two part solos are some of my favorites, such as the one in Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper”. And to top it all of “Dog Eat Dog” has a simple, but very effective, hook for maximum enjoyment. And now we come to our first song with Meatloaf on vocals. I am a Meatloaf fan so the prospect of having him sing lead on five of the nine songs really appealed to me, but “Writing on the Wall” doesn’t really do it unfortunately. It’s decent, though not good enough to warrant a replay. Derek St Holmes makes a return on the next song, “Turn It Up”, a return to the faster paced songs of earlier. The riffing may be good, but it’s Holmes’ vocals that are front and center on this one, and he carries that responsibility well. Meatloaf may have done the song better, but Holmes is good enough that I’m not wishing for Meatloaf on there.
Meatloaf does return on “Street Rats”, which definitely helps the song. It’s not the best one on the album, but the riffing is still good and having Meatloaf there definitely helps it. Meatloaf stays for the next song “Together”, which is a ballad. Now I’m sure you know my opinion on most ballads by now and I’m not exactly going to be positive to this one It’s alright, and I suspect Meatloaf has a lot to do with that. It’s just good enough that even though I would never listen to it on its own, I wouldn’t skip it on this album. Holmes makes his final return on the next song, which is “Light My Way”. Another upbeat tune, it’s got good riffing and soloing, but still ends up fading into the background of this album. It didn’t help that it had to precede “Hammerdown”. “Hammerdown” is my favorite song on the album. It plays right to Meatloaf’s strengths of aggressive singing and a great range. The solo is a bit mundane compared to some of the others on the album, but the singing on the verses and chorus is easily enough to offset that. Things are closed by “I Love You So I Told You a Lie”. It’s a bit slower and probably not the song to put after “Hammerdown” or to close the album with. The Loaf/Nuge combo is still enough to make it worth a listen though.
Free For All was a pretty good album. It handles the three vocalists really well and feels like a cohesive whole with no disjoint between the three singers. It might not be my go-to album in any scenario, but if I put it on I’d definitely enjoy it.
The verdict- 3.5/5
Side one
Free-for-All
Dog Eat Dog
Writing on the Wall
Turn It Up
Side two
Street Rats
Together
Light My Way
Hammerdown
I Love You So I Told You a Lie
Mad Metal Man Review website
