|
|
|
BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About LOTD
|
Jesse Bolt
Band: The Revelation
The Revelation, latest release from Concord, NCs Jesse Bolt Band is a big-ole slab of fist pumping arena style hard-rock. You know, the kind with big guitar riffs, flurries of guitar solos, and lots of cheesy lyrics about how hard the band and/or the fans are gonna rock baby! Lets see then, the first song is called We Will Rock! The song title doesnt really have the exclamation point, although, of course, it should. This song has an obvious promise to live up to and indeed it does: it rocks! The guitar riffs are super-catchy, the rhythm section is apt to cause head-bobbing, and the guitar solos take it to eleven. Its one of the biggest rock clichs ever, but its still great. The problem is that, after this first rocker, the rest of the album becomes repetitive and increasingly uninteresting. There are some moments here and theresome marginally interesting lead guitar work on When Hell Freezes Over and Kamikazebut other than that, were left with songs that seem pretty indistinguishable from one another. Its not that the songs literally sound very similar, rather the whole enterprise is too formulaic. Take He Wore Black or Hold On, for example: the hooks dont work, and the verse-chorus-verse-chorus songwriting becomes insipid. My other big complaint is the lyrics. While I suppose that I shouldnt expect poetry from this kind of music, I believe that Im at least entitled to not cringe overly often. From When Hell Freezes Over: As I look out, across the sea / I dream about my misery / I wish I could tell you whats on my mind / Sing the song till the end of time. If drama is the issue here, then Jesse Bolt could at least adopt some Bruce Dickinson style mythology or something. Or maybe the last lyric could be We will rock until the end of time. Wait thats even worse. Overall, The Revelation is a valiant effort with a few moments of fist-pumping goodness. Unfortunately, the clichs and lack of variation in the songwriting really makes the album tiring. Those who love arena hard-rock may want to check out Jesse Bolt. The rest of us are better off busting out our Judas Priest and Dio records when we get the urge.
This album can be purchased at the Jesse Bolt Band Official Website About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
