Not sue what this solo album means for the future of Crowbar. It came out back in January and I am just now caring enough to check it out. It might be a little more melodic than Crowbar. It has a little more of a doom feel than sludge to mean as there is a tone of sorrow to the riffs. You gotta give to Kirk he might not have the best voice in metal but he works with what he has well. After the opener we get into what amounts to gloomy power ballads. The vocals are really well done and produced so I am ok with it. It is like the WASP album we never got. 'Once Again" pretty much picks up where the previous song left off. The guitar has more jangle to it which is one thing I guess we would not be hearing on a Crowbar album.
When the third ballad hit by admiration of Kirk's voice is being to get tested. If this was a Cure album, I might be fine with things going this way. It doesn't suck. There is great guitar playing on it. The distortion kicks back in for "Toxic" . No it is not a Britney Spears cover. The distortion is welcome, but in truth some of the ballads feel more inspired. "the Healing " is a doomy instrumental that is melodic enough to hold my attention . I do not have the most encyclopedic knowledge of Crowbar's discography like I do with Black Sabbath or David Bowie. But I have never hear Kirk sing as well as he does on "Necropolis" , which the name is deceptive. Its another ballad not a head banger , but it is well done , if you are going to write swamp soaked power ballads this is how to do it.
"the Ugly Truth" leans in more of a misery ballad direction, but has more rock moment than many of the others on this album. I was surprised at how well he nailed the cover of "Aqualung" . Even as it is so ballad heavy this album does grow on me and proves to be an enjoyable listen. I will give it a 9 . If you are a fan of Crowbar or this era of 90s metal, this is a must.
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