Reviews

The hectic fame of the glory days of grunge must have been quite taxing on many of the key musicians, and Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard sought a shelter from the storm with a group of old friends when he formed the band Shame during the busy touring of Pearl Jam's debut album. Musician Brad Wilson quickly contested the use of the name, so why not rename the band Brad as a reminder and instead call your pending album Shame? Recorded in October 1992 during a brief period of Pearl Jam touring downtime, the album has a loose jam-like feel to it, as many of the songs were written in the studio and recorded on the spot. The result is a moody album, and one that often feels like it could have been more, given more time to develop. It is far from perfect, but is charming in many ways. Opener 'Buttercup' sets the tone of the album nicely. It's a mellow affair, that builds and crashes like small waves hitting the shore. Shawn Smith's voice is the focus of the song, a theme throughout the album. His voice could be described as an acquired taste, and depending on how you feel about it either makes or breaks the album. 'My Fingers' up the volume and tempo to closer to the style that was probably expected of a band that included four Seattle alumni. It is rocking and has a great pulse that drives it. 'Nadine', although slower, has a great bass line that winds around the words. Gossard's guitar is subtle, as it is on many of the songs. It is clear he has chosen to take a step back from being the driving force as he was on so many of the tracks from Pearl Jam's debut Ten to instead let these songs breath and swirl like dissipating smoke rings. '20th Century' is groovy beyond belief, and is the stand out track of the album. 'Raise Love' has a great chorus and almost a funk-type feel, before 'Bad For The Soul' really raises the funk bar to sound like a Red Hot Chili Peppers outtake. 'We' closes up the album nicely, with a quiet farewell and a simple solo from Gossard. The album suffers from a lack of punch in many places, almost like the songs are building to a crescendo that they never reach. The intensity of long, drawn-out slow passages needed some sort of coda to refocus the listener. With a little more time to develop the songs, and maybe even more thought into the overall direction of the album it could ultimately have been a better product, but then again who's to say this wasn't exactly what the four musicians wanted?

One of the pioneers of thrash metal music, at this point they were up to their 5th release. For me this was the first album I managed to listen to in my youth and by God, if 'War Ensemble' as the opener doesn't get you on your feet and wanting to go crazy, then you're a corpse. Tommy yelling the chorus is a call to arms to just let loose. Wait for when he yells "WAAAAAAAARRR!" at the top of his voice. Love it. And if you think it would stop there, then your sadly mistaken. The album very quickly moves onto a more even paced 'Blood Red'. This is where you can take a breath to acknowledge each instrument. Lombardo seems like he is on holiday when double kicks his bass drum. King and Hanneman (R.I.P.) were such a powerhouse with their guitar collaboration and there is Tom handling bass duties and a magnificent delivery of the vocals for what you'd expect these days from a thrash vocals - in some ways I believe he matches the music better that the likes of Hetfield, Belladonna, Souza, Billy etc. Speaking of Hanneman, I realised just now that he wrote the majority of the music for this record. Skipping to highlights in the album, 'Dead Skin Mask' is right up there. Creepy topic to sing about but so well delivered in a song. Again epitomises what Slayer are all about. You just have to take a read of the track names to understand they ain't hanging out in a playground swinging on a swing. Again with Tom's delivery and the topics they 'sing' about there is no mistake on what you should expect. The last track, the title track, is simply epic. Graceful but equally ear piercing in its delivery. Arguably it goes into the debate of the best intros in metal music (and Slayer has a few candidates already). Great album and will always be one of my favourites.