Dragging a Heavy Butt
P.S. | Japan | 08/05/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"To add to my Deep Purple Family collection I tracked down and ordered a couple of Mother's Army CDs because Joe Lynn Turner (DP mk.V) was the vocalist. When I looked at the band line-up, however, I thought that this should be one heck of an album: Bob Daisley-bass, Jeff Watson-guitar, Carmine Appice-drums.
I heard Fire on the Moon first and knew by the reviews on Amazon to expect this album to be different. It sure is. I had to listen to it five or six times before I could really start to pick out songs I like. My first impression is that this album is like the debut album of a band recording on a budget. The particular skills of each member don't really shine through except maybe Daisley's bass, which is thanks to the clear recording of the bass track. Joe Lynn Turner sings with little energy and many tracks are vocal harmonies rather than a solo vocal. JLT practically sleeps through this album. I would have expected more energetic drumming from "the world's greatest rock drummer" or more remarkable guitar work from Jeff Watson but overall I think any of the members could have been substituted with some no-name up-and-comer and the album wouldn't have sounded much different.
Perhaps the band was going for a certain mood. The album is mostly composed of slow dragging songs. It's heavy but in a tired way that is perhaps reflected in the lyrics about environmental doom and the hippy-ish lyrics about wealth being un-necessary. In fact, on some songs if you replace Mother Earth with God or Jesus you would have a debut album by a Christian rock band."
