2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Southern Hard Rock at it's Best, February 23, 2009
This review is from: Devil's Canyon (Audio CD)
This was a transitional album for Molly Hatchet for during the production of this album, the last original member, singer Danny Joe Brown, became too ill to continue on with the recording and touring responsibilities. Strangely enough (and kinda cool, if you ask me) he named his own replacement-Phil McCormack-who also has a very similar style of singing. Danny Joe Brown has credits on two songs, tracks 2&3, and is also listed as lead singer as well as McCormack. Some reviewers seem to think DJB has vocal duties on this CD, I honestly can't tell if he does or not on some tracks, others I know for sure are McCormack singing. Doesn't really matter to me because in the end this is great album regardless. The only reason I give this CD 4 stars instead of 5 is because I reserve 5 stars for perfect or nearly perfect albums, such as Hatchet's debut album.
This is not the best Hatchet album ever, but it's definitely a keeper. I like it better than their newest offering "Warriors of the Rainbow Bridge".
Track by track review:
Down from the Mountain-- 4.5 stars--I like this song, it's a cool opening song with a good chorus.
Rolling Thunder--5.0 stars--I like this one even more! This woud've been a better opener. The main riff is awesome, good driving southern hard rock. DJ Brown get's credit on this one.
Devil's Canyon--5.0 stars--yet another rocker with DJ Brown's name on it. Killer song with a great Southern rock guiar jam at the end.
Heartless Land--4.0 stars--at first listen I would've given this song 3 stars, but it's a grower, slower than the first three, it's more mid-tempo.
Never say Never--3.5 stars--starting to drift near filler zone now, but stilla good song.
Tatanka--5.0 stars--Yeah that's more like it! This song starts out with a riff better than anything Metallica did for years. This is a rocker.
Hell or High Water--3.0 stars-- kinda like filler,but's it's not.
Look in your Eyes--0 stars--This song is total crap. I hate most ballads anyway, I think this one's a total waste of time.
Eat your heart out--3.5-- This song is OK, but not near as good as some of the others on this CD.
The Journey--4.9 stars-- Why 4.9? Because some of the lyrics are cliche, but on the other hand the song is so freakin' awesome!
Dreams I'll Never See--4.0 stars--It was an OK song when Greg Allman penned/recorded it. It was an awesome song when Hatchet covered it in 1978. This version is an acoustic cover of their cover with McCormack on vocals, they did a good job but it wasn't really needed, there wasn't anything wrong with the way they did it the first time.
Overall a cool album, simply skip track 8 and enjoy.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The South rises again, December 28, 1999
This review is from: Devil's Canyon (Audio CD)
This is possibly Hatchet's best album ever. Lead vocalist Danny Joe Brown only appears on 5 tracks as far as I can tell, but replacement Phil McCormack sounds incredibly similar and does a fine job.
From the opener "Down on the Mountain" you know the album is going to be a cranker. The songwriting is spread over all the band members. It is a fairly heavy album but with some great Southern boogie tracks "Baby Eat Your Heart Out" and "Come Hell or High Water", a strong ballad "The Look in Your Eyes", and an acoustic version of "Dreams I'll Never See".
I must say when I bought the CD I was a bit concerned about the lack of original members but that was all blown away on first listen. Songs such as "The Journey" and "Devil's Canyon" have the classic build-up with twin lead guitar shoot outs that classics "Boogie No More" and "Fall of the Peacemakers" have.
Readers of Hard Rock Magazine in Europe voted it best Rock album of 1996 also.
This is a fantastic driving album, but watch out that you don't get a speeding ticket on the title track like I did! Whooee!
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Living off the reputation of past members., July 31, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Devil's Canyon (Audio CD)
It's extremely disappointing to buy a cd by your favorite band, and then discover that not one single original member is in the group (credits listed only on the inside). To those unfamiliar with the true Molly Hatchet this may be an acceptable cd...however, when compared to any of the early releases the music comes across as"forced" and somewhat lackluster. Nice try, but in the end it's a case of living off the reputation of a great band, that sadly, no longer exists.
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