Member:
The Silent Man
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by The Silent Man)
Date:
4/22/2008
Format:
CD (Album)
Right off the bat I have to say that this is by no stretch of the imagination what could be described as 'prog'. What it is however, is a fine album of good, simple, rootsy American rock - and there's nothing wrong with that!
Tishamingo's influences are many, but all cut from the same red white and blue cloth - ZZ Top, Black Crowes, early Bob Seger and The Band can all be heard strongly (the latter's “Chest Fever” is covered here).
The best of the material here is absolutely splendid. From the moment the vibrant opener “Get On Back” opens the album with a muscular statement of intent, it's clear that this is a good, easy-on-the-ear listen perfectly suited to a long drive. Apart from that opener, standouts include the lively “Are We Rollin”, excellent ballad “Mitchell” (straight out of the early Seger songbook), and the slide-driven “Travel On”, which calls to mind Zep's “In My Time Of Dying”.
The album isn't without it flaws. For example, “Tennessee Mountain Angel” starts as a fine ballad before tacking on a unnecessary Freebird-esque coda to spoil the mood, and the country twang of “Walkin Shoes” sounds trite and hackneyed.
It's difficult to escape the feeling that the album is loaded toward the first half, with a discernable tail-off toward the end, but overall this (relatively) new band have delivered an album filled with confidence and bravado, which is just the antidote to those occasions when another mellotron just won't do...
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