Review Summary: An ageless album that should be given a chance by listeners of many different genres. Even when it does show it's age it's definitely the bands best effort and can really compete in my own collection of great CD's.
[n]cky[/b] is during “Infiltrate-Destroy-Rebuild”:
Deron Miller - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Bass
Chad “CIG” Ginsburg - Guitars, Backing Vocals, Bass
Jess Margera - Drums
Vern Zaborowski - Live Bassist
Original Release Date: September 24, 2002
Produced and Mixed by: Chad I Ginsburg
Co-Producer: Deron Miller
Label as produced: Island
IDR?
So I’ll repeat myself again saying that
CKY isn’t my favorite band but I do believe that they are a good band. This isn’t a band that’s going to put you out on epic journeys with songs that are over 10 minutes long, and crush your face with technicalities in music. To me CKY is the band that really anyone can pick up and listen to on an easy listening curve. There really isn’t an inquired taste here and really if you just like alternative rock/a real rock band they should be fairly easy to get into. They are basically that fun fighting video game you played with your friends that all you needed to know was to how to mash buttons to be able to kick his ass. Whatever the account was, it was a blast doing so… The music is crafted so well together and that may be on the account that this band is really a 3 piece in the studio or just a thank god moment. The band like I said isn’t going to throw down crazy time signature changes, shredding technical arpeggios, or any jams something like tool or the Mars Volta are going to throw down on a regular basis. The format of the songs stay on a strictly similar construction but somehow they manage to stay fresh and entertaining. This is a real stadium rock album in my mind with a set plan of 10 songs, that really are designed to be hard rock oriented. It’s really easy to tell a CKY song from other songs simply by the guitar tones and effects that they use.
The overuse of envelope filters and the drowning of distortion fuzz could definitely be a trademark by the CKY song construction. In overall it creates a unique fusion to the music and it isn’t every other damn bands
standard Marshall distortion that should check itself into a retirement home already. This isn’t a band you’ll really listen to because of poetic lyrics but the lyrics aren’t bad. They flow and don’t feel forced and the melodies will catch your ears (at least one of them has too). The lyrics seem to have matured from previous albums, but still won’t qualify with a sense of “Thursday” or “Circle Takes The Square” artistic ness. They are still fun spirited but then again when listening to a band like this, the lyrics kind of just pass through my ears. How will these 10 tracks stack up overall though? Easily…
Song Layout
Escape From Hellview - The album opens up at a strong brisk pace with the band at full force. The guitar intro riff really gives the song a Halloween like feeling to it. This is easily a great introduction to the bands work, because everyone seems to be top notch. Fans of “Volume 1” will easily get right into the gist of things and rock out to this song. The lyrics and vocals are above average in this song than on the previous releases and you can already sense a solidification of the music being more concrete. The acoustic parts in the verses is a nice touch up, and it automatically switches back to electric when pre-chorus winds up. This is a pretty “renowned” song by the band. It starts the album in the right step… *10/10*
Flesh Into Gear - Well this is my favorite song out of all of the albums by this band and all I can say is listen to it. I’m pretty sure most people have heard this song by this band whether it be Jackass movie credits or in some other way form. I think the lyrics in this song are some of the best that this band’s ever written. The vocal transitioning in the verses is different from most of there songs switching off from main vocals to back up in an alternating fashion. It works well, and the music is right there accompanying everything well. The guitar has that “out of space” phasing in it and really the song stands out. I don’t need to recommend this song for this album but more if you want to hear the band in general… *10/10*
Sink Into The Underground - An interesting guitar/bass riff opens up in this song keeping a moderate pace. It’s easily catchy to the ear and the vocals start after about 10 seconds. The vocals are a lot more melodic in this song then the previous ones. That intro riff is repeated a lot throughout the song but it definitely has a lot of staying power behind it, to do so. The song isn’t as strong as the other previous two but the guitar/bass work (where it’s really the following the same thing) will get your head banging. Or at least a foot tap… This was actually one of the first songs I listened too by this band and I remember being quite mesmerized by the effects used. *8/10*
Attached At The Hip - This song continues this album on a steady pace. It is one of the singles of the album and is really listener friendly. The song has intro which is louder and moderately paced which is the same as the chorus. In the verses heavy chugging of palm muting comes in where the vocals are obviously in the spotlight. The interlude has a nice drum fill in it and the song really revolves in the same 360’s. *8/10*
Frenetic Amnesic - This song has a lot of interesting use of guitar effects. The bass is more then ever present in this song also. The harmony being the title of the song is repeated throughout the verses. The effects and unique tones used in this song save the song from failure. The vocals and lyrics aren’t exactly anything to jump up and down about and guitar solo just seemed to bore me. The guitar fill after the pre-chorus and solo was pretty cool with the wah-wah though. *7/10*
Shock & Terror - This was probably the second song I’ve ever heard from this band. My friend sent me this with ‘Sink Into The Underground’. This song wastes no time with barely any pause in between ‘Frenetic Amnesic’. That trademark CKY sound is present and the song follows an identical format as Sink Into The Underground. I’m not crazy about the vocals throughout this song but the guitar and bass work in this song is nice. I really disliked the chorus on a vocal stand point for some reason, the harmony just felt really forced. The song has some cool production clicks in it though and the bass seems really heavy in this song. It creates a nice groove during the chorus. *8/10*
Plastic Plan - The lyrics in this song are really hit or miss. Some parts just sound corny and other parts mold the song nicely. I quite enjoyed the vocal work on this song though especially in the chorus. That “fat” CKY guitar tone is used throughout. The song is really melodic compared to the other songs. The song isn’t necessarily bad but it isn’t anything to go crazy about. The song seems more experimental to a softer side than anything and solo was alright. *6/10*
Inhuman Creation Station - Nice little drum roll in starts this song off. The music comes back to standard traditional form from “Plastic Plan“. I really have something for this song and this is a lot of people’s favorite song off of this album. The lyrics seem sincere and honest and fit well. The song is the longest on the album but it makes it’s time well. It has nice vocal hooks and different guitar variations at the end of the main riff. This song is easily recommendable for someone who wants to get into this album… *9/10*
Sporadic Movement - This song automatically runs at a sporadic pace. It’s a different song on the opposite of what “Plastic Plan” went with. This song is probably the closest thing to metal on the album. It has a really hard edge to it, and a fast beat. The vocals are pretty frantic also which fit the song well but the chorus of repeating “I am Sporadic Movement” kind of getting cheesy. An interesting try off into a different venture… *9/10*
Close Yet Far - This is the softest song on the album with it’s introduction of acoustic guitar. It feels more like a ballad than anything focused on lyrics and vocals. I’m not exactly a fan of the lead guitar synths, and it’s actually really corny and I think the song could be better if done without. There are nice hooks in this song that make it catchy even when I know its corny at times. *8/10*
Inhuman Creation Station
This album in my mind has a lot of staying power. More staying power then “volume 1” and the most recent release “an Answer can be found”. This is such a big step up for the band in my mind from “volume 1” because it shows that this band is more serious then a lot of people could take them as from only listening to “volume 1”. This album is over 4 years old now and I still listen to it on a regular basis. I know people who listen to this album non-stop and it is easily an album that can be listened to non-stop without getting really tired of it. This sounds like a contradiction because I said that the songs follow similar formats and don’t really venture out from the inside the box perspective in music. Yeah I still hold myself to that point but what CKY easily proves is that if you can do the same thing well, and keep it fresh then why change anything if it’s working out? All of the songs stay in same time range of length and the album on a whole is an average overall timing for a rock album. It’s just really easy to get into this, but at the same time it isn’t exactly music for a cliché. Yeah the riffs are scaringly easy to learn but this band isn’t really about overpowering the listener. It’s more just guiding the listener along with some unique guitar tones and great music. Who doesn’t want that except the one kid who wants to shred guitar all day and have shred guitar riffs in the intro, verses, and choruses… It once again proves that maybe it isn’t about the technicality of color but more how the color got there in the first place…
Pros:
+ Unique Guitar and Bass tones/effects
+ A lot of hooks in songs keep listeners interested
+ Adequate Planning in Music and near flawless execution
+ Easy to listen too (and to love)
Cons:
- The guitar solos are pretty lackluster on this album
- Lyrics can be really corny…
- ..Vocals can also fall into the cheese grater…
Thx for comments.
