HOUSE OF LORDS - review added 20th August 2009
Album Review: Cartesian Dreams (2009)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and the top end of musicianship
House of Lords have been around since the late 80's when they released an eponymous debut. Back then, as now, they were led by James Christian. Originally he was accompanied by Gregg Giuffria, Lanny Cordola, Chuck Wright and
Ken Mary. Nowadays, as has been the case since 2006's World Upside Down, the line-up is completed by Jimi Bell on guitars,
BJ Zampa on drums
and Chris McCarvill on bass.
Be in no doubt, this is a world-class line-up of musicians. James Christian's vocals are unique and phenomenally tuneful. There's no one else out there who sounds like him and few people can deliver the soulful power he squeezes so effortlessly from his lungs.
Jimi Bell, with his Sabbath-esque looks and heavy playing style appears to be the lead player from a death metal band. His licks and hooks mark him out as a star guitarist with every string he picks... live, he is on another planet. Drummer BJ Zampa is a cut above your average skin slugger too. The way he works double kicks and insanely quick progressions into the music is incredible.
That leaves Chris McCarvill, a bass player who doesn't shout about his talents but holds the House Of Lords sound together. The sound these guys make is very, very heavy. In places you can feel the power shaking your very soul... but it always retains a defiant air of melody that no amount of volume or speed is going to shake off. Best way to describe the sound is HARD!!! rock. It's simply too all consuming to be called anything else.
The title track has a very obvious Judas Priest 'Touch Of Evil' riff. The song itself bears little relation to the track by Halford et al and boasts a powerful verse and chorus structure. It's a rich deep song that, unoriginal riffs aside, is up there with HOL's best work. 'Born To Be Your Baby' is a thunderous track with nods to sleaze and late 80's excess, performed in a considerably more grown-up way. It only misses the final few points of magic by a tiny margin.
The mid-paced 'Desert Rain' has a strong HOL sound, but the chorus is a touch too subdued to be truly great. The sickly-sweet ballad 'Sweet September' treads a fine path between brilliance and clichéd nonsense. Every time I listen to it my opinion changes and I really can't decide if I love or hate it. Grrr. And what's with the incredibly high pitched spinny noise at 2.34? Very odd. 'Bangin'' picks the pace up again. It's a stomping track with a meat and veg chorus you want to eat until you burst. 'The Bigger They Come' is pacey with a great sound. Parts of it are uncannily similar to the Steinberg/Kelly song 'I Drove all Night' which is off-putting. The chorus is splendid however.
The uninspiringly titled 'Repo Man' ends up being one of the better tracks on the album. It harks back to the late 80's and features some quality hooks and a strong chorus. 'Saved By Rock' is a better track too. The way the track builds to the chorus is very well judged. 'Joanna' continues the positive trend, whilst bonus track 'The Train' is considerably more wonderful than several of the main entries. Go figure...
I'm not as impressed with this album as I thought I was going to be... although all is relative. It's still House Of Lords so it has a phenomenal sound, but the songs themselves aren't quite as good as this band are capable of. The result doesn't match World Upside Down but is arguably better than Come To My Kingdom. There are no irrefutably huge songs and, although the album is pot marked with classy interludes, it's not enough to gift Cartesian Dreams genuine classic status. Very disappointing... in comparison to what they are capable of. Still utterly brilliant in comparison to most other bands...
Check out... The cover art. As pointed out elsewhere, very similar to The Eden's Curse album, The Second Coming!
Track List:
01. Cartesian Dreams
02. Born To Be Your Baby
03. Desert Rain
04. Sweet September
05. Bangin'
06. A Simple Plan
07. Never Look Back
08. The Bigger They Come
09. Repo Man
10. Saved By Rock
11. Joanna
12. The Train (Bonus Track
Label: Frontiers
Artist's website(s): House Of Lords , MySpace
