I have to say that I was a little more than excited
to learn about Another Animal, the new project from
Godsmack members Robbie Merrill, Tony Rombola, and
Shannon Larkin alongside ex-Ugly Kid Joe vocalist
Whitfield Crane (a major part of the draw here in
my opinion) and original Godsmack guitarist and ex-Dropbox
member Lee Richards. While they had me at Larkin and
Crane (combined with the mixing duties of Ugly Kid
Joe alumni Dave Fortman), this is an album that is
likely to get lost in the shuffle.
Another Animal rightfully and expectedly has a good
deal in common with Godsmack. It’s the same
mid-tempo, sometimes bluesy, hard rock that made the
band full fledged rockstars in an age when there are
very few new ones. Vocally, Sully is missed in some
ways. I MUCH prefer Crane’s voice (or UKJ to
Godsmack for what it’s worth) but he never gets
to really do anything here. His vocals are all fairly
low register and melodic, leaving his trademark drunken,
aggressive slur in the dust. Where’s the guy
that sang “Sandwich,” “God,”
“Goddamn Devil,” and “Neighbor?”
Without Crane’s dynamic vocals the album falls
flat all too often. I’m not sure if this is
just what he does now or the band thought it fit what
they were going for better but either way, Crane’s
talent is not utilized well on this album.
Mind you, none of this means this is a bad album
but it’s not a great one either. “Broken
Again” is a solid tune that hints at greatness
as does “The Beast Within.” The hard and
heavy, solo rich, swagger of “Black Coffee Blues”
is the odd man out here but also probably the best
song on the album as it doesn’t fit any of the
preconceived ideas people would have for this album.
The acoustic “Fade Away” finds Crane at
his best (and arguably the band as well). There’s
a lot of intimacy to this song and you can tell the
subject matter is an issue close to its writers.
All in all it takes the album a long time to gain
the momentum you hoped to hear right out of the gate.
It’s a solid effort that sounds like a band
trying to find their feet and I hope it gets another
chance because I think this all star band has a lot
better in them. For now, the last few songs serves
as the key to the record so I suggest checking out
some song samples before diving head long into this
album.
Key Tracks: “Black Coffee Blues,” “Fade
Away,” “Broken Again”
Reviewed by Mark Fisher |
