Having dived in feet first when I first discovered Psycho Motel's first album State of Mind, I was slightly more cautious when it came to finding this second album, Welcome to the World.
For a start I couldn't be sure which way the music direction would go
after the varied account the first album gave of itself. There was also a
change of lead vocalist, which could have led to problems in itself. So
it was a much more solidified response I gave to this album on my
introduction to it.
Andy Makin came aboard as the new lead
vocalist, and his voice helps to shape this album into more of an easy
listening rock album, not dissimilar to Riverdogs debut album or Shadow King's
only release as well. One advantage is that his voice and Adrian
Smith's suited each other nicely, so the back up and harmonies work well
on this album. The grunge era aspect of the last album have been
modified to the point where it now sounds more like Pearl Jam in places,
while suitably low-key music make up the majority of the verses,
allowing Makin to impose his vocal style over the songs. While this
style most definitely tones down any heaviness becoming a part of this
music, its mid-range progressive rock style will appeal to a greater
variety of music listeners as a result. Whether or not they are
satisfied by the result is another question entirely.
Some of the
songs here rise to a ranking of... okay. "The Last Chain" opens up the
album well enough, showing a bit of enthusiasm in the mix. "A Quarter to
Heaven " can be placed in a similar bracket, but the final two minutes
is filled with the same line being repeated over and over again, and
unnecessarily. There is promise in the title track "Welcome to the
World", but it then just drags out far longer than it should, and after
the start it does peter out into an overblown artist trap. I always had
hope for the song "With You Again", if only for the fact that it
featured guitar by Dave Murray, but it doesn't lift it beyond the
mediocre.
While I consider this to be a likeable album, I think it is
tied down fast to the era it comes from. In the places where the band -
and Adrian himself - are allowed to break out and make something more
of what has been written it comes across with that bit of energy and
inspiration that is needed to make it rise above the average.
Unfortunately this is far too random an event to make this much more
than it is. There is a real mellowness about this release that mocks at
the kind of material we know Adrian is capable of playing. A song like
"Innocence" is far too Pearl Jam for anyone's liking, there is no energy
and it's melodramatic crawl through the landscape is almost
cringe-worthy. Feel free to add "Hypocrisy" to that as well.
Taking
the two Psycho Motel album's along with the A.S.a.P. album, it is
interesting to see and hear the other side of the man who has written or
co-written so many of the great songs from that other international
metal band he is a part of. There is none of that here, in fact the
guitar is such a small part of the writing process here you sometimes
wonder if he was involved at all. I tried to like this album, but came
away feeling uninspired and more than anything else, downright bored.
The only bright side here really is that it was the end of the 1990's
exploration for Adrian, who moved into Bruce Dickinson's band after
this, and hasn't looked back since.
Rating: And now my highs just bring me down, I try to scream but I can't make a sound. 2.5/5
The disappearance of Adrian Smith from the
music scene troubled me a lot during the first half of the 1990's. His
abrupt (or so it seemed to me from this distance) relocation from Iron
Maiden during 1989, along with the release of what proved to be a whole
different concept in A.S.a.P's Silver and Gold
album, was followed by almost total silence, which seemed like a
complete waste of his talent. So it was with some relief, and not a
little trepidation, that I did discover that Adrian was returning to the
recording world in the form of a band he formed called Psycho Motel,
and this debut effort entitled State of Mind.
One
thing I had enjoyed of Adrian's previous project was that he sang lead
vocals on the album. That was not to be the case in Psycho Motel, but on
this album it certainly appears to be the right decision. Hans-Olav
Solli puts in an excellent performance throughout this album, in a role
that is varied throughout. Different songs require him to modify his
performance along the way, something he does admirably.
So what about
the album itself. Well, it is a mixture of interesting stuff and some
dull, overblown stuff. The violin and cello in "Psycho Motel" and
"Western Shore" can be said to be superfluous and perhaps a little
cheesy. There is some good material in "State of Mind", "World's on
Fire" and "Rage". The rhythm section of Gary Leideman on bass and Mike
Sturgis on drums do a serviceable job with the material they have. "Time
is a Hunter" is very progressive in nature, with those long winded,
almost-whining vocals cast over Adrian's slowly serving guitar solo
riff, in a style that many people would enjoy in that environment, but
for me just ends up boring me to the point of skipping the song. "Money
to Burn" has the slow chugging guitar riff over a solid drum beat that
is fine for the circumstances, but doesn't come across as an exciting
piece of music designed to draw in fans. "City of Light" is an
improvement, and makes for a better comparison than some of the tracks
presented here.
It's almost very designer hard rock, trying to
utilise some characteristics of grunge without acknowledging that it is,
and basing the rest around a non-threatening rock sound with some scope
for hearing a little bit of that old Adrian Smith scripted guitar
soloing, albeit without the energy and drive that highlighted his other
band. The mixed feelings I get here about this album probably stem from
the fact that there is such a mixture of styles. There's no doubt that
some of these songs step out and make you notice them, and make you
think, "Yes, there's something here in this". yet there are others that
drag their feet, and make you feel that something has been left behind
in the writing and recording.
The amount that you like or dislike
this album is likely to be tied almost directly to how much you like
Adrian Smith and his music. Adrian's fingers are all over the composing
of this album, so it's not as if he is just a hired gun here. the music
is most definitely of the hard rock variety, and while some of it is
certainly credible there are places where it feels and sounds uninspired
and tired. But this was the marketplace of the mid-1990's. It was a
mishmash of styles, all trying to cope with the upsurge and then
downturn in the grunge movement, and wondering what was going to be the
direction from that point. While it may sound as if I'm denigrating this
album, it is closer to the truth that I do enjoy most of what is
produced here - it's just that I expect so much more from Adrian that
what he has given here fails to completely satisfy me.
Rating: I'm in a rage, I can't contain, someone free from the endless pain. 3/5.
