Customer Reviews

Devil's Canyon

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

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Do not need the maximum of 1,000 words to describe this cd. Honestly, in my opinion, this is the best Hatchet your money can buy. Period!!

The fact that there are zero(yes zero)original members left made this difficult to accept at first.Original vocalist Danny Joe Brown had to leave due to medical reasons,but his hand-picked replacement does a fine job.It sure does sound like them,even though it isn't.The guitars are big,loud,and obnoxious(just the way theyr'e supposed to be).The songs are excellent.The twin leads are soaring.I would reccomend this to any southern-rock fan.

If you like Molly Hatchet, or if you've never heard of them, but crave that southern fried multi-guitar attack monster from decades past, then this album is a must own. "Down From the Mountain," is a blazing example of what southern rock is all about, with it's acoustic dobro beginnings giving way to the overdriven fat-sounding Gibsons played through their Marshall stacks. The complicated guitar weaves on, "Come Hell or High Water," are flawless. "Rolling Thunder," is a thoughtful tribute to Vietnam Veterans, the thunder being from the Harley-Davidson riding veterans that gather in our nation's capitol each year at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Of course, don't forget the acoustic remake of, "Dreams I'll Never See." This is an excellent Hatchet offering. The song keeping this entire album from earning five stars is, "Look In Your Eyes." This song is terrible, and should have been left off the album, the other cuts are well worth the money.

This is the best album in their catalog. The new singer is so much better than danny Joe Brown it is not even funny.The trip[le guitar attack is even more awsome wicked than ever.The south has done rosen again.Great idea doin dreams again,this time so much better.Flirtin' stinks compared to this.