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You Support This Site When You Buy My Books E.C. McMullen Jr. PERPETUAL BULLET "'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book." - John Grant, Infinityplus E.C. McMullen Jr. WILLOW BLUE "'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down." - Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of FINAL DESTINATION IN OTHER BOOKS E.C. McMullen Jr.'s short story CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE in the anthology FEAR THE REAPER "This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time." - Steve Isaak, Goodreads HORROR 201: The Silver Scream Filmmaker's Guidebook featuring RAY BRADBURY, JOHN CARPENTER, WES CRAVEN, TOM HOLLAND, E.C. McMULLEN Jr., GEORGE A. ROMERO, and many more. |
Hank's back, though the Rollins Band is actually entirely new. This time around he picked up a trio called Mother Superior, composed of Jim Wilson on guitar and piano, Marcus Blake on bass, and Jason Mackenroth on drums and sax*. The end result, however, is a little odd. Yes, the music is good. And yes, as usual for Henry Rollins, the songs are good. But the two don't necessarily jive. The music is most akin to a hard rock sound, close to but not quite the Seattle sound made popular by the likes of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Rather than the hardcore punk/metal sound of earlier Rollins Band albums like WEIGHT, these guys sound a lot more like Creed. Well, Creed with some balls, anyway. While the music has lightened up some, Hank sings with the same angry roar, and it doesn't necessarily fit in with the music. It's not bad, it just doesn't quite fit. Sure, on occasion he brings it down a notch, using a more mellow tone backed by softer guitar riffs, but when he gets into the traditional Rollins fury he almost overpowers the music.
Fortunately it's tolerable, and after a few spins you'll hardly notice. Standout tracks include the opening "Illumination", the title track "Get Some Go Again", and "Monster". Wayne Kramer (solo efforts as well as frequent guest recordings, such as on Bad Religion's STRANGER THAN FICTION) checks in with guitar work on "Hotter and Hotter" and gets a vocal nod from Henry in the beginning of the closing track, "Illuminator". "Illuminator" is the real treat on the disk. It's more like Henry's spoken word performances, only backed by rock music (note: "Everything" was backed by jazz music, the rest are typically live recordings). He targets the phony, flakey LA entertainment scene and the kind of people it tends to produce, and blasts away with his usual razor-sharp insight and take no prisoners attitude. While GET SOME - GO AGAIN is not 100% within my tastes, Hank's songwriting really makes up for it. I give it four Perplex Skulls. This review copyright 2000 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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