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Full Review | User Ratings (5) |
| Summary: Hard rockers Operator combine musical elements of Velvet Revolver and Audioslave as well as Chris Cornell-like vocals to produce a generic rock album overlooked. While not putting anything new on the table, it still delivers catchy riffs, decent hair-rais |
2 of 2 thought this review was well written
Operator is a hard rock band out of L.A. and even with some success off of their first single "Soulcrusher," they seem to be quite unknown amongst the music industry. This may be due to the fact that through much of the debut album, Johnny Strong's vocals highly resemble that of Chris Cornell and that the actual music is nothing unique but rather a blend of Velvet Revolver and Audioslave. Just because it brings little new to the table does not make the CD not worth listening to. I was actually quite surprised at the outcome.
Many people have heard their title track and radio hit "Soulcrusher" and I can imagine that many of them wondered if this was Cornell dropping the f-bomb here and there. Nope, it's Johnny Strong. The lyrics fluctuate throughout this CD but the lyrics for this song are somewhat Tarzan-esque: "Soulcrusher, no other, soulcrusher, don't give a f***!" Nonetheless, the catchy bone-crunching riff and the melodic bridge save the song.
Two more songs continue the journey of hard riffs, that being "Nothing to Lose," the unknown second single and "Make 'Em Pay." Both songs use good use of guitars, with the chugga-chugga riffs as well as some surprisingly decent solos, including a slow ending acoustic solo in the latter song. "Nothing to Lose" is probably the best hard-riff song on the album while "Make 'Em Pay" is probably not as memorable, except for some immature lines as "Nobody loves me like you, nobody does me like you do" but it doesn't make it a bad song.
Surprisingly enough, half of the CD contain ballads or at least quasi-ballads, but luckily none end up being whiny or overbearing, which happens sometimes with bands like Staind. The songs include "So Little Time," "Delicate," "Burn Up The Road," "Black Cloud" and "Good Enough." Well, the song titles lose any originality vote but the songs themselves make up for it. "So Little Time" and "Good Enough" are probably the "worst" of the five. The vocals during the chorus of "So Little Time" are very harsh and the solo seems out of place while "Good Enough" is just merely overshadowed by the two ballad songs that are prior to it.
Throughout these ballads, the lead singer's vocal styles change but usually collect back at the Cornell genre. It definitely shows through the other three ballads. "Black Cloud" is very simple but it works. This song actually starts building up some vigor near the end before getting cut off by silence for no apparent reason. "Burn Up the Road" throws in the acoustic and probably contains the best lyrics on the album including "I'm crucified by the pieces of the bridges I've burned along the way." But "Delicate" definitely takes the cake and may be my vote for best song on the album. It brings nothing new lyrically but there is an overwhelming addiction to the riffs in the bridge and the outro.
Moving back to the harder rock songs, the two most disappointing songs besides a few of the ballads are "What You Get" and "The Only One," which end up being re-hashed versions of each other. "What You Get" screams Cornell but it does not scream for a climax, which the song really needed to push for. Nonetheless, it's not a song I'd recommend skipping. On the other hand: "The Only One" is obnoxiously repetitive.
Yes, we get it! You're the only one!
Still, the bridge is worth mentioning considering it has some haunting vocals and guitar work.
The CD closer is one of the stranger songs, lasting over 7 1/2 minutes. Still, "Live Your Way" is basically two songs - a five-minute song with catchy riffs, eerie scratches, some extremely basic drum work and laughable lines such as "Nothing pays off for p*ssy motherf*ckers!" combined with an odd switch at the five-minute mark to piano and vocals, singing about memories of the old neighborhood and the push towards Hollywood. It's a bit unexpected and seems like it should be its own separate track but then again, the music industry is a mysterious place.
Pros:
Guitar solos - surprisingly good and most of the time, well-placed
Catchy riffs
Some of the ballads
4/4 Radio-friendly (if you like that)
Vocals (most of the time)
Cons:
A DISGRACEFUL lack of bass
Very simple drumming throughout
4/4 Radio-friendly (if you don't like that)
Nothing unique brought in
Some songs have very choppy endings (possibly due to production)
Some songs are VERY basic and fear to push the envelope
For those who don't feel like reading:
Soulcrusher 7/10
Nothing to Lose 9/10
Make 'Em Pay 7/10
So Little Time 6/10
Delicate 9/10
What You Get 5/10
The Only One 3/10
Burn Up The Road 8/10
Black Cloud 6/10
Good Enough 5/10
Live Your Way 6/10
First review - how did I do?
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Good review, great for a first. A friend I work with likes these guys and always wears their shirt. Since 85% of the music he listens to is nu metal, this sounds like the majority of what he likes, and from what I've heard this review is pretty accurate: generic radio hard rock, not my cup o' tea.
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I've had this for a couple of monthes and still havent listened to it.
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These types of bands serve their purpose, but atrocious music is still atrocious music. Ok review!
Digging: Enslaved - Vertebrae
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
The band serves it's purpose, yes, and it's pretty generic throughout the whole album. I still sit by my rating considering the riffs are so obnoxiously catchy and it's well put together. It's definitely not atrocious and this is from someone who has a love for a large span of music (Dream Theater to Mastodon to Eagles to Radiohead and all over).
It works but the ballads kind of blend together and half the songs are forgettable. Still, there are a few that shine.
Thanks for the comments though! Peace!
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
good  also not too good
This Message Edited On 02.13.08
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this was a decent review, not great, not poor, I'll pos because it's your second review.
Digging: System of a Down - Toxicity
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