Yep,the debut solo offering from the St Vitus,Obsessed,Spirit Caravan and Hidden Hand doom legend and what a mixed bag it is too.Kicking off in fine style with the early LED ZEP swagger of 'Release me' things
look pretty rosy from were I'm sitting but alas the euphoria doesn't last long.Don't get me wrong the big man is in fine voice with his weathered tones adding weight and an overall sense of outlaw freedom to the proceedings while CLUTCH drummer extraordinaire Jean Paul Glasters' precision clout never falters.
The warm live 70's analog production is excellent (plenty of flare flapping bass) but the real downfall for me is
the actual songs or rather non-songs.'Smilin road' can't quite lift it's feet despite it's warm freewheelin glow,
'woman in orange pants' (eh?) is a band jam fleshed out so tight it could snap and 'wild blue yonder' sounds like a NEBULA cast off.There are enough highlights on this to warrant a listen.The aforementioned
'Release me',the bulldozing title track which sounds like Fu Manchu jamming with Spirit Caravan,the hypnotic swirl of ''Secret Realm devotion' and the Obsessed-esque 'Eyes of the flesh' could and will make the Wino die hards chance their financial arm but to me it just sounds a little cobbled together (I did read somewhere that most of the riffs and ideas were left from even as far back as his St Vitus days,though strangely he didn't play guitar in Vitus! maybe that's why he didn't use em).
Though not as all round impressive as the last Hidden Hand record this despite my reservations is a worthy
addition to the big fellas canon.Just not a classic.
Subject: WINO/PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM (Southern Lord) 
Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:56 am
