Search - Drowning Pool :: Desensitized

Different Band

Sky | New York | 09/14/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you like those bands that angrily shout all the lyrics through their songs you'll love Desensitized. If you loved Drowning Pool's Sinner you might not like Desensitized.



The three surviving members of Drowning Pool and Jason "Gong" Jones will probably tell you that "Jason-Gong is not Dave Williams" (the original Drowning Pool singer that died tragically in 2002). And that's the problem with Desensitized. There will be many people buying the CD to get Drowning Pool, but instead they will get a new hard rock band with the same name.



The band rocking on Desensitized has three dudes from Drowning Pool and a guy named Jason Gong Jones at the mic. It is not the Drowning Pool that recorded Sinner. The band is calling itself Drowning Pool, but there is a big difference between the former Drowning Pool and the latter Drowning Pool.



Gone are the songs with anthem choruses like "let the bodies hit the floor", "reminded of you", "all over me", "raise your hand if you're a sinner". These are replaced on Desensitized by what seem to be more short, angry, declarative statement choruses. The clearly sung choruses recited repetitively to an awesome, banging beat that the Drowning Pool that included Dave Williams was so fond of are sorely missed on this CD.



Desensitized is hard rocking fun. But it is not the Drowning Pool that recorded Sinner (did I mention that?). So keep an open mind when you push play on this new group's CD and don't be disappointed when you hear for yourself that "it is just not Drowning Pool". This band should have come up with a new name for the new group.



On this CD Gong uses that angry shout much more than Dave did. And that is ironic because he should be the happiest guy in hard rock to have landed a gig with CJ Pierce, Mike Luce and Stevie Benton.



Update 8-8-2005 - Soil's former singer Ryan McCombs joins Drowning Pool with a new release possible by year's end according to info on the Drowning Pool website. My expectations are very high. Ryan's singing is hard and very clear. See my review of Soil's Redefine.

"

Superior to Sinner

slaybak-x | Athens, TN United States | 07/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Granted Dave Williams was an amazing stage presence and just a
natural born front man, so good live in fact that I believe he was easily the overall reason Drowning Pool broke thru to begin with, I mean seriously, how many other singers do you see doing "bodies" as well. That being said I always thought "Bodies" while catchy, was really just over done to the point of true 14 yearold lamedness, some have tried to compare "Bodies" to Pantera's "walk" which is hillarious, they have compostional similarities but thats it.
On to "Desensitezed".
Not as heavy an album as I normal would buy but Far better than Sinner which did not flow worth a damn, and had maybe 3 songs that anybody ever listened to. I never bought the album nor ever had the urge to. Every song on Desensitized flows, is just as heavy as any on Sinner( btw, theyre are alot of tards on here thinking Drowning Pool was ever "Heavy" to begin with) and the new singer is just as good vocaly as Dave ever was, it makes me sick that DamagePlan couldnt have got this guy.
Desensitezed is a Heavy straight ahead Rock record, one that I listen to tracks 1-11 straight over and over again with no problems at all, which is a very rare thing for me being the picky sob I am. Its not a Pantera rip-off or anywhere close to Pantera, its just a good simple heavy straight ahead groove rock record, whats wrong with that?
It sure as hell better than kid rock."

A Suprising Effort

Beanie | 06/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of people say the same thing about this album, "It's not Dave." Well, yeah, it isn't. As much as I loved Dave's vocals and miss them as well, Drowning Pool made a smart choice in not trying to get the same sound. It was said that they received a tape of someone that sounded just like Dave, but turned it down because they didn't want to make it seem like Dave was just another voice. Having said that, I thought Jason was a good addition to the band, while not sounding like Dave, he brings something new to the group. Some of the songs seem a bit more emotional, which is understandable seeing that the band suffered a very big loss. However this album still brings that gritty and heavy sound that Drowning Pool tends to give. "Step Up", "Think", "Killin Me", and "Cast Me Aside" are all heavy favorites. However, as many fans may know, I'm writing this review a day or two after it was announced that Jason was released. This is a shame because the rest of the band is very talented and to have to go through so much trouble all the time is unfortunate. This album is not "Sinner" but is still good. Frankly, if Drowning Pool is able to bounce back from Jason leaving and give us an album equal to or better than "Sinner" then they will be one of the biggest metal bands to date. This is a good album, and long live Dave."