Review Summary: A solid release from an incredibly technically proficient group.
With a band name like this one, you can be sure that The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza has a good sense of humor. Now whether or not you think they play good music is really entirely your opinion, but if you ask me, these guys hit the nail on the head.
Danza II is 14 tracks long, changing back and forth between chaotic math and even grindcore, to the story about a man coming to a bar and trying nothing more than to get a drink.
After the first part of the skit:
T.R.O.U.B.L.E. finishes off, we're thrown right into the pit of chaos with frantic guitar work, blast beats, groovy breakdowns, and brutal, yet somewhat monotone growls and screams. The third track,
I Don't Mean To Impose, But I AmThe Ocean kicks you right in the face by showing off that the guitarists here are not afraid to use every inch of the fretboard, and almost immediately after, throwing in the rest of the band, upping the brutality and insanity even more.
Go Greyhound, a personal favorite of mine, starts up immediately after and brings you down even farther into a pit of chaos and insanity with chugging riffs, brutal growls, and groovy beats.
After 3 tracks of grindcore insanity, you get to take a break and listen to the story from track 1 continue to unfold. Now, as we get thrown back into the fray, five more tracks that really don't do anything to stand out from the beginning of the album other than by their titles (a few examples being
Crunchy Black Did Me At Midnight Madness and
Nobody Eats BBQ Two Days In A Row.) Following these tracks, we hear the man try to order a shot of whiskey, start a bar fight, kill everyone in sight with a chainsaw, (we're also given the pleasure of being able to hear everyone who managed to survive being hacked up, gagging for breath for a few seconds before being interrupted by the sound of the chainsaw whirring along as it sits on the ground) and drive off into the distance. The actual track that comes between the attempt to order a shot, and the divebar massacre is actually very impressive. It starts off with even more chaos, brutality, and technicality than anything previously on the album, with the vocals almost sounding like they have some rap influence in them at some points. The final track, which comes on after a few moments of silence following the massacre scene is a country inspired instrumental which not only adds to the atmosphere set by the the dive bar story, but gives this album a memorable and, for lack of a better word, 'different' ending than you would expect.
While
Danza II does have so much going for it, it doesn't quite pick itself up on a few points. The main problem with this album is that it tries to be intense on every track (skit tracks exluded). On top of this, the heaviest parts of the song tend to be the most boring, which really adds to the feeling that you've heard this all before. Problems aside, this album does a lot to keep itself from being lumped in with the rest of the math/grind groups.
