HELLYEAH

Hellyeah | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 7, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000NJLM2S
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,876 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On paper it looks like a headbanger's dream and in the imagination it sounds like no other band possibly could: Mudvayne's Chad Gray (vocals) and Greg Tribbett (guitar), Nothingface's Tom Maxwell (guitar), and Jerry Montano (bass) join Damageplan/Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul for a good ol' batch of brawny brewtality. On record, Hellyeah sounds like your run-of-the-mill post nü metal band as it serves up a batch of southern-inflected tunes that rock hard but unconvincingly over the course of the album's 44 minutes. A thoroughly bad album would inspire the listener to pipe up with a resounding "hell no," but instead, Hellyeah's mediocre debut forces one to issue a whimpering, lukewarm "well, maybe," a far more troubling sign.

The opening, titular track slams the listener's eardrums with precision guitar figures from Maxwell and Tribbett and some career-defining pummeling from Paul. Even Gray fires on all cylinders for the bulk of the tune's three-and-a-half minutes. But the record quickly sinks beneath the weight of Gray's unsophisticated and often sophomoric lyrics. His attack on critics, "Waging War," is little more than a profanity-laden temper tantrum that's as cliché as it is petulant; "Alchohaulin' Ass," a would-be southern rock anthem, fails to live up to the minimal promise of its title and instead of turning into triumph of the spirit and celebration of the party life serves to remind us that the bottle is far more capable of drowning creative impulses than it is drowning one's sorrows; "Thank You," alternately an ode to the departed and a way of making good with the living, confuses the numbing effects of drugs and drink with the powerful connectivity of intimacy and thus fails in its attempts at suggesting we all get a little closer. Others, such as "Nausea," "One Thing," and "Star" feature lyrics so poorly developed and derivative that it's hardly worth commenting on them.

Well worth avoiding.

––Jedd Beaudoin

Product Description

HELLYEAH. Five musicians, three bands = creative collision of sonic proportions. The highly anticipated debut release features MUDVAYNE lead singer Chad Gray and guitarist Gregg Tribbett, former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul and NOTHINGFACE guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano.

The quintet includes three of hard rock's most revered and valuable players, with careers highlighted by an astonishing run of chart-topping gold and platinum albums, major industry awards, critical acclaim, Grammy nominations and music of monolithic power. REVOLVER magazine hailed the band as "the ultimate metal super group."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HELLYEAH, June 8, 2007

By 

Matthew Siebert "Ms" (Fenton) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HELLYEAH (Audio CD)

If I heard this CD without knowing who it was, I would say it sounds like a cross between Mudvayne and Pantera. I disagree with people who think its different from either band as both the Mudvayne and Pantera styles are obvious. I have yet to listen to nothing face so I won't make reference to their style.

The CD is mostly fast paced with a couple slower songs. Even the slower songs are good but have a different mood than the rest of the CD. The band is appropriately named because the song HELLYEAH is by far one of the best songs made.

Don't buy this CD if you're expecting Pantera or Mudvayne. Buy this CD if you can appreciate both styles blended perfectly into 11 songs (not counting in the mood).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Skull Crushing Entertainment, April 29, 2007

By 

Brian Rayner "Synthetic Soul" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HELLYEAH (Audio CD)

This album delivers a supersonic punch right into the skull of the listener. In a world where many bands must try real hard to define a unique sound, these guys (all from various influential metal backgrounds) deliver an authentic metal recording that sounds better with every listen. So, take a shot of Jack, chase it down with a cold brew, and turn the volume knob to the max and be prepared to have your face kicked in. Hellyeah stands and delivers! I cannot wait to see them live at the Family Values Tour this summer.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun yet forgettable, August 28, 2007

By 

A. Stutheit "Teyad" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HELLYEAH (Audio CD)

Does the world really need another new "supergroup?" Well, the fact of the matter is your opinion is actually irrelevant, because the music industry thinks we can never have too many of them. So here we go yet again! This one is called Hellyeah, and consists of two members of Mudvayne (vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett), Nothingface's Jerry Montano on bass, and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who used to play in a little band from the Nineties called Pantera. No matter how tired you may be of "supergroups," after considering the stature of the musicians involved in this project, there's no denying that this band definitely has a boatload of potential.

It sounds like the members of Hellyeah had an extremely good time making their eponymous debut. Throughout these twelve songs, the listener constantly gets the impression that these were five guys who wanted to take time away from their day jobs by getting together and just have a great time rockin' out without any rules, obligations, or cares in the world!

Unfortunately, much of the time it seems like everybody was having so much fun jamming with one another that nobody remembered to write a lot of the songs. This album is a really mixed bag of material. Several of the tunes -- including "Matter of Time," "Waging War," "Rotten to the Core" (which features an almost "Dimebag" Darrell-worthy solo), and "Nausea" -- rock really hard and powerfully, but ultimately go absolutely nowhere and don't leave much of an impression on the listener. And elsewhere, "Star" and the obligatory ballad "Thank You" come across as fillers which are dragged down by cliche, and sometimes even laughably bad lyrics.

"Hellyeah" isn't a complete throwaway though, because no matter how mediocre the songwriting usually is, the album earns a few points just because it's so fantastic to hear Vinnie Paul back in action again (he is in fine form here, too -- he slams away on his trapkit and creates a wealth of thunderous rhythms.) And there are a handful of good songs here. The titular opening track is a rousing, mosh-intensive statement of intent that pummels the listener's eardrums with a bludgeoning groove, excellent, slamming drums, strong, thrashy riffs, and a great, chant-along chorus. After this comes "You Wouldn't Know," which boasts a bit of impressive, Sevendust-style crooning, a fairly ripping solo, and a killer chorus hook. Later on, "Alcohaulin'" is a laid-back, Southern-tinged acoustic strummer highlighted by a small, bluesy solo; "Goddarn" storms back onto the scene with driving riffs, a pounding rhythm, and another irresistibly catchy chorus; and set closer "One Thing" marches to the album's finish line with a rumbling, crunching wall of guitar noise.

Ultimately, "Hellyeah" makes for an enjoyable listen which will satisfy all fans of Pantera and Mudvayne, but it does nothing to enhance any of the band members' legacies.