Customer Reviews

The Company Band [Vinyl]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Company Band pretty much sounds like you might think - a bunch of alt-hard-rock guys got together and made themselves an alt-supergroup. I liked the "Sign Here, Here and Here" EP, but I can't say it rocked my world. So at first listen I thought this self-titled was fine. Nothing ground-breaking, but a quality CD.

But here's the thing: I just keep listening to it. Over and over again. And I'm enjoying it a lot more than some more critically acclaimed loud music that came out this year. So maybe novelty is overrated. The Company Band has no "prog-leanings", no "linked song cycles", no "jazz inflections" and no interminable four-part eleven-minute soundscapes (lookin' your way, Mastodon...). It's just ten tight songs that take care of business and don't overstay their welcome. The Company Band is packed with catchy hooks, typically awesome Neil Fallon lyrics that make me want to sing along, and a general feel of five guys who know what they are doing and are having a great time doing it. There's something awesome about that.

And now I'm going to go listen to it again.

Straight up some good rock. I really dig "Hot Topic Woman" and the lyrics make me smile every time I listen. If you're a Clutch fan then don't miss out on this rockin' album! It does not disappoint!

As a musician and a listener I can be picky. I also have a wide range of likes. This is the one you will go to when you can't decide amongst all the other bands and songs in your collection. At first you will go...sure it's ok...then you will realize you've had it on repeat for three days.

The Company Band is another side project of Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon, though it's a lot closer to the Clutch sound than the jazz/rock The Bakerton Group was. Fallon is joined by drummer Jess Margera (CKY), singer/guitarist Jim Rota (Fireball Ministry), and bassist Brad Davis (Fu Manchu) as well as guitarist Dave Bone, making The Company Band a stoner rock supergroup of sorts. The band's debut EP Sign Here, Here & Here was just a warm-up for this, their debut full-length release.

With producer/engineer Andrew Alekel (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age) at the helm, The Company Band serves up ten completely heavy, completely rocking songs that are full of thick, Sabbath-inspired riffs, serious groove and an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek attitude. Songs like "Hot Topic Woman" and "Love Means Never Having To Say You're Ugly" tell you what kind of sense of humor these guys have, and it only makes this rocking album that much more fun. Fallon delivers a particularly impressive performance; his powerful voice serving as the perfect counterpoint to Rota and Bone's thundering guitar work and Davis and Margera's relentlessly heavy rhythms. He is particularly spellbinding on the album's sole slow number, the haunting "All's Well in Milton Keynes."

The Company Band is just a really solid, really heavy, groove-laden hard rock album with a sense of humor and a lot of personality. Clutch, Fireball Ministry, CKY, and/or Fu Manchu fans are the natural audience for this kind of music, as are fans of Monster Magnet, Brand New Sin, Them Crooked Vultures and just about any other rock band heavy enough to rattle the walls. The bottom line: The Company Band rocks. Big time.

The high hopes I had for this album were not only met but exceeded. I haven't been able to get this out of my CD player for long. I just keep going back to it. I have to say, and not without some guilt, that I enjoyed this way more than the last Clutch CD (Strange Cousins...). I know, it feels blasphemous to me too, but it's true. This has it all: superb riffs, excellent guitar harmonies, Neil's unique lyrics and vocals and more hooks than a tackle box. This is definitely one of the best albums I've picked up in a long time.

This album rocks from front to back... I agree with the previous poster that it just gets better as you listen more. I have been listening to it in my car for over a week straight and I don't think I've skipped a song yet.

Grammy worthy? You bet! This is the straight forward rock sound that many Clutch fans have longed for.