Customer Reviews

Exit Elvis

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All of Gary Cherone's intelligent songwriting skills come into play on this debut cd from the Boston based band, Tribe Of Judah. Gary Cherone has made some fabulous, lyrically intelligent music with Extreme (III Sides To Every Story, Pornograffitti, Waiting For The Punchline). Here on "Exit Elvis", he knits the songs philosophically together, and without getting to complicated here, my impression is that the album has many underlying themes. Draw what you will from them all. All of the songs featured are fantastic. Left For Dead, is an all out great rocker, which has a message about the relationship between man & god. No One, is a great catchy rocker, with excellent musicianship, love the way Gary sings the chorus to, he really shines on this track. East Of Paradise, has a great feel to it, great song. Thanks For Nothing, sounds like Godsmack & Extreme, which makes for a great rocker. Celibate, sounds like Nine Inch Nails & Soundgarden, even maybe Extreme at times, very catchy, industrial sounding song. Ambiguous Headdress, sounds like Coldplay meets Enigma, different but good in an exotic kind of way and Gary's vocal work is excellent. Lot's of techno polish to be found on this track. In My Dreams, is a great NIN like rocker, but sounds completely original. 2+2, is a downer because there is no music, just a little girl reciting a poem that Gary wrote. Suspension Of Disbelief, is stunning and is another all out industrial like rocker. My Utopia, is by far hands down the best song on the cd. Very catchy, very alive, very good song with mind blowing lyrics. Exit Elvis, is an odd work of art, where Cherone's theatrical ability actually is put to use here, in what is a very theatrical like song. Very original and different than anything I have ever heard. I could only use Queensryche or Led Zeppelin comparisons to describe the progressive nature of this track. Exit Elvis, is an album that grows to be better and better with each and every listen. Hear for yourself, without sounding pretentious, this very well may be the best album to come out so far this year, and it's a debut. Exit Elvis, is a work of art.

What an album! What a debut album!

Although this is Tribe of Judah's first album, the players have been around for quite a while. Most notable of course is Gary Cherone, formerly of Van Halen and Extreme. Man did he show up for this one...

The opening of the CD is just great--"Left for Dead" really explodes out of the gates with a force Van Halen never achieved on VH3.

Any Extreme fans will like the album because of Cherone, but it goes much further than that I think. Cherone is a powerful lyricist, and several of the songs deal with his standard themes.

The new sound is classified as industrial rock I guess, but whatever it's called it really hits the spot in these days of pseudo-rock. Pick it up--well worth it!

One of Gary Cherone's most lauded contributions to Extreme and Van Halen was his ability to write interesting, philosophical lyrics. With this Tribe of Judah CD he continues that trend and has only gotten better.
Two of his former Extreme bandmates, bassist Pat Badger and drummer Mike Mangini, are joined by a not-famous-but-should-be guitarist and a keyboard player to form this power quintet. The tunes are mostly heavy and full of crunchy guitars. Best part: the tunes don't follow the normal Verse Verse Chorus Bridge Chorus pattern. The song structures and melodies are much more musically interesting than I expected.
The only throwaway track is "2+2". Less a solid contribution to the CD than a private indulgence (or favor), the song doesn't exactly fit. But at a running time of less than one minute, it can be forgiven. If this were a major-label release, there is almost no way that song would end up on this disc. But it's not, so it did.
Highlights of "Exit Elvis": the songs Thanks for Nothing, Suspension of Disbelief, No One, and Left For Dead.

I hope we get another disc from these guys. As I write this review, "Exit Elvis", or at least the material on it, is over a year old. Time for a new disc, guys. Looking forward to hearing it!

This is a very good rock music release. The structure of the music does not follow the usual pop music ditties but rather this is music that begs to be really listened to and, if you do, you'll most likely walk away with an expanded view of your world, ie, have a more open mind. It's music that challanges the listener to go beyond the normal walls of a pop music CD and get into areas that offer the opportunity to think in different ways. What ways are up to the listener but you will be provoked to opening your perspective. This is "conceptual art" rock music done by a very smart man, Gary Sherrone.

I don't know if everyone is willing to take Gary's musical journey here but if you do it'll be worth it if only for the different take it has on rock music and the chance to expand your thoughts on music and what is around you.

Tribe of Judah's debut release "Exit Elvis" is one of the best hard rock albums I've heard this year.
Former Extreme and Van Halen lead singer Gary Cherone's new band blends hard driving, well written rock n' roll songs with a twist of industrial rock. This is definitely a winning combination for this new band of seasoned rock artists.
The five piece band consists of Cherone on vocals, former Extreme bassist Pat Badger, Leo Mellace, who does a phenominal job on guitar, drummer Mike Mangini and keyboardists Steve Catizone and Steve Ferlazzo rounds out this high intensity band.
The disc opens with the driving "left for dead" and takes off from there. Other notable tracks are "thanks for nothing", "celibate" and the mesmerizing "ambiguous headdress" which is one of my favorite tracks.
If fans of Cherone and Extreme's hit ballads like "More Than Words" are looking for some love songs on this cd forget it.
This is a harder edged sounding Cherone and company.
I think Van Halen missed out in keeping Cherone. He's an awesome vocalist, who writes well written songs with Tribe of Judah.
To hear what the Noise Boys missed out on pick up "Exit Elvis."

Excellent surprise!
I didn't know what to expect from Cherone's first solo album and maybe he didn't either and that 's why he decided to mix some of his old way of working with heavy-indus, loops,...
In a way this album reminds me a lil bit of Ian Astbury's solo album, just heavier and with a lot more guitars... you know what I mean, you recognize the singer but he experiments new territories and shows us another side of his work...he evolves.
A contrast of heavy metal-indus songs and complex QUEEN-influenced melodies(the song EXIT ELVIS is just great!).
I also believe that where ROB HALFORD failed with TWO, CHERONE succeeds with Tribe of Judah.
I never realised how much Cherone can sound like Sammy HAGAR and for me that is also a plus.
So yes only 4 stars for two reasons: will that album sound so great in a couple years and second while I listen to this cd I'm definitly goin to hide the awful cover that has nothing to do with the mood of the album.It is rather a refreshing, strong and inspired work than a coward suicide-attempt.

This is really a good album! When I first put it on, I was not sure what to expect and it did not hit me on first listen BUT unlike parts of VAN HALEN 3, it started to stick after a few more listens. Gary had nothing to lose and everything to gain here! The album opens with a hard driving industrial tinged number titled LEFT FOR DEAD. This song gets better with every listen! Next up is NO ONE, a kind of slow and smooth rocker with a cool groove. EAST OF PARADISE is experimental(whatever that is these days), like most of the album. THANKS FOR NOTHING is familiar, with its EXTREME meets SOUNDGARDEN feel. The rest of the album pretty much retains its industrial edge. What really makes this album work is the production, which makes one wonder what was up on VH3. Of course, that album was always measured by VAN HALEN standards and it just did not hold up, although there are some great moments, like Gary's lyrics, which shine here as well! Maybe they should have held out for one more album. It will probably never happen, so at least Gary is moving on. This album should satisfy EXTREME and VAN HALEN fans alike! My only question is...did EXTREME just change their name or did NUNO because the guitarist on this record sounds very similar to NUNO at times...so we have 3 quarters of EXTREME, maybe NUNO should just get back together and they have 2 guitarists! Only time will tell. Anyway pick this one up...it WILL NOT disapoint!!!

Gary Cherone is 'smarter than the average bear'. Lyrically, he dares you to think beyond the constant barrage of sound bites and pop culture opinions. After exploring the dangers of relativism, confronting atheistic philosophy, and challenging the senseless morality of 'Big Bang' supporters, the cover art begs the question, 'Why not?' Don't be too intimidated... He also presents these challenges on a great rock record that will, no doubt, plant itself firmly in your cd player for months before you realize that you haven't had the desire to listen to anything else. Gary Cherone has embarked into new territory, here... Successfully combining the old with the new ~ Pete Townshend meets Trent Reznor meets Chris Cornell ~ This will be your favorite record of the year. PICK IT UP.

I can't describe how wonderful this record is so I won't try. Gary Cherone (Extreme, Van Halen) and his band Tribe of Judah have created one of the best rock records of 2002. Everything is amazing from start to finish. The Tribe are original and have their own sound so add this to your collection and everyone you know will turn their head when you have it cranked! Go get it!

As an old fan of Extreme, I've followed Nuno Bettencourts solo career closely and was excited to find that Gary Cherone was venturing out with Tribes of Judah. This album pretty much rocks, using different sounds such as Industrial "In my dreams", Electronica "ambigous headdress", Funk "No one", and good old fashioned Metal "Thanks for nothing". There's something in there for everyone! Gary's voice comes across as strong as ever, at least when it's not treated with synthesizers. There are two tunes that simply needed to be scrapped "2+2"(which isn't even a tune) and "Exit Elvis" which reminded me of some bad French film noir soundtrack at times.-Don't ask me why... Lyrics were good, but I still think Nuno's artistry was the heart of Extreme. Overall this album gets a solid B for a grade. And yes, I would buy it again.