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CNR MUSIC OVERALL: 80% Produced by: Freak Of Nature |
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Freak Of Nature was Mike Tramp of White Lion's answer to the post hair invasion of grunge. Formed around the same time that melodic rock turned sour, FON had al the attitude that would carry them through to higher peaks. Except it didn't quite happen. the first album was grunge, but still kept it's roots in melodic territory and on familiar ground to White Lion and the second release took it another step closer to Nirvana. I love Mane Attraction, that record is still a masterpiece, but I never really took to FON. Imagine my surprise when this collection of outtakes (casts, whatever) really caught my ear. This is pretty good stuff! Now I have to buy the FON albums. I won't make comparisons to those original 2 albums, because I don't know them well enough (yet). But I can comment on the tracks before me. There is plenty of melody present and for those that have never heard FON, they are defiantly 2 steps heavier than White Lion. Blame It On The Fool is good piece of modern 90's hard rock with good vocals from Tramp. The feel of the whole record is loose and raw. | ||
Half of these tracks were recorded live in the studio, while others were finished entirely, only to be left off at the last moment. There are also some extended jams, with a couple of tracks heading over 8 minutes and half over 6 minutes. One of these epics, Disturbing The Peace is extremely cool and quite heavy. Other cool tracks include the modern ballad I Regret, the straight forward rocker One Love, the acoustic driven What Am I and the heavy funk of Wartime. The packaging of this album should be mentioned as there is probably more effort in this than was in either of their official releases. Complete liner notes and a band history from Mike Tramp. Cool cover too. | PRODUCTION: 75% | SONGS: 80% | VIBE: 82% | ATTITUDE: 83% | ESSENTIAL FOR: All Freak Of Nature and some Mike Tramp/White Lion fans |