Jerry Lee Lewis
Last Man Standing
Artists First
B+
75%
2006 was apparently the year that hosts of artists, long since assumed dead and certainly well past their period of relevance, decided to resurface and treat the world to their elderly musings. From Meatloaf to Bob Seger, the results were sub-par at best. So, I approached Last Man Standing, the new album by the true elder statesman, Jerry Lee Lewis, with a sense of heightened apprehension.
Once the shock that Jerry Lee was truly still alive and kickin’ wore off, I discovered a surprisingly adept album. Featuring an incredibly impressive guest list, from Bruce Springsteen to Merle Haggard, this disc of 21 duets swings with a healthy dose of rhythm and blues and Golden Age rock ’n’ roll.
It’s evident that Jerry Lee can still tickle the ivories with the best of them, pounding out his honky-tonk piano lines with the same fervour as “Great Balls of Fire.” The guests on this album provide great additions to the songs, but are grossly underused and understated in many cases.
Some of the standout tracks include “Before the Night is Over,” featuring the great B.B. King, and “Sweet Little Sixteen” with Ringo Starr. Sadly, the years have sapped a great deal of the power and clarity from Lewis’ voice and thus deprive the songs of emotional virility or lyrical coherency.
A legendary man and a legendary guest list may not have made a legendary album, but it’s certainly not bad … and hey, at least it’s better than Meatloaf.
—Jordon Beenen
Threat Signal
Under Reprisal
Nuclear Blast
D-
55%
When an artist is influenced by a band or number of bands, the usual course of action is to adopt elements of their sound while still providing a creative take on said sound. I guess the boys in Threat Signal never attended school. If they had, they would have ed that the penalty for plagiarism is an automatic zero.
Featuring the syncopated rhythms of Swedish metal band Meshuggah with the melodic chug of the entire Gothen-core movement and the soaring vocals of Trivium et al, Hamilton’s Threat Signal have crafted an album that amounts to little more than a catchy and wholly vapid display of technical chops. This inherent catchiness provides a necessary reprieve from the unimaginative lyrics and still-born attempts at emotional depth. Tracks like “One Last Breath” and “Counterbalance” certainly get you head-banging, but ultimately Under Reprisal leaves one feeling hollow and in fervent search for a copy of Meshuggah’s Destroy. Erase. Improve, for a more stimulating experience.
—Jordan Beenen
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