Customer Reviews

Red Light Fever [Vinyl]

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

 

 

I purchased this album because I had gotten tickets to see the band in Boston and wanted to know some of the songs. Overall, I was really impressed with the album and after seeing them in concert, I'm even more impressed with Taylor Hawkins. He drums/sings every song with a tremendous amount of energy and sounds great. The album is basically a love letter to all the bands that influenced Hawkins as a kid - the influence of Queen, in particular, with layered vocals/harmonies is really obvious.

Standout tracks on the album are Way Down and Don't Have to Speak (with Brian May of Queen appearing on both), Your Shoes (featuring Roger Taylor of Queen on background vocals), Not Bad Luck (with Elliot Easton of The Cars). Clearly, Hawkins has made some pretty amazing musical connections during his tenure with the Foo Fighters and he was not shy about calling in some favors for this album! There are a few tracks that I'm not crazy about (It's Over, Hell to Pay), but even those aren't bad songs, I just don't like them as much as the rest of the album.

After hearing this album and seeing the show, I'm planning on picking up Hawkins's debut album as well. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

I write very few reviews... But I had to chime in on this CD. Love it. If you liked the first album, you're going to love this one. This is good melodic rock and roll (not pop) at its finest. Just BUY IT!

Came upon this accidentally and am glad I did. Very enjoyable with a great mixture of 70's and modern. Great job!

`Red Light Fever' is a pretty solid outing from Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders and is wears it's influences on its sleeve throughout. This albums sounded like a blend of the Foo Fighters and Queen and considering these are the contributing artists and the musicians Taylor most often plays with, this is no real surprise. This has the high pitched harmonised backing vocal Queen is renowned for and the solid, chugging riffs so beloved by Foos fans, but not always on the same tracks! I'd say the first half of the album sounds the most like Queen and the latter half like Foos. Taylor has credible vocals throughout, easily as good as Grohl to be honest and the songs on offer are well written and produced. This is a fun side project for Hawkins and that shines through blatantly clear and if you are after an easy going rock album that doesn't take itself too seriously, but which still offers up some credible songs in their own right, then this is the place to go.

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Side projects can often times be a questionable pick up. Add into the fact when it is a drummer of a major band like the Foo Fighters and you really might question if it is any good. This is the second album by Taylor Hawkins and his band and it is high level, Badfinger-esque good time celebration of music.

More popish than rock it is still an amazing album and one, if you are on the fence about getting, you should hop off the fence and pick on up. Go check out his website first if my review isn't enough as he had a nifty preview station up to promote it!

After hearing Taylor sing on In Your Honor, I always thought he should do a solo project. A couple years later I stumbled on to the fact he already did! The first release was so so, with maybe one or two stand out tracks so I was eager to hear if he could bring it up a notch on his second release. The good news is he did! This album is a diverse collection that meanders from 70s inspired rock, (think Queen, T-Rex, Thin Lizzy, and the Police), to his unavoidable Foo influence. A great album that is a breath of fresh air considering what you find out there today. Sounds awesome on Vinyl as well!

How great must it be to already be involved in a pretty good group like the Foo's and then have some time on a Foo hiatus to go out and make music on your own away from that GIANT roller coaster of a band?? Well, that's pretty much what Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders have done here. On the back end of Dave Grohl's THEM CROOKED VULTURES release, Taylor Hawkins obvioulsy could not sit idly by twiddling his thumbs waiting for Dave to get back to FOO business. Instead, he embarks on what is his new album, RED LIGHT FEVER. From the beginning, you can clearly hear the STRONG Queen influences with the intro song "NOT BAD LUCK." The high pitch harmonies take you back to early Queen days when Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor were belting out those famous "KILLER QUEEN" harmonies themselves. Think modern day rock with a 70's Queen twist. Definitely a good thing.

Next song is "YOUR SHOES" and it definitely ROCKS!! VERY catchy with a fun layered guitar solo in the middle and with backing vocals sung by Roger Taylor. So far, this song is probably my favorite on the album. Pretty fast paced with a good drum beat (of course) and a strong lead vocal by Taylor in that semi-raspy, yet smooth delivery. It works here...just take a listen!! TAYLOR HAWKINS CAN ACTUALLY SING!!!!

The track, "HELL TO PAY" is TAYLOR HAWKINS like I have NEVER heard him before. This is a really good track!! Taylor's voice is definitely smoothed out...no raspiness here. This guy just continues to amaze me with what he can do. Seems a shame that the Foo's don't let him sing more often or at least get a bit more brave as a group by experimenting with harmonies or even more backing vocals. You can really feel the emotion in Taylor's vocals here and the band sounds really tight. The bass line and drum pattern mixed with the vocal and topped with that crisp, yet low key guitar work in the beginning just makes this song an incredible listen with eyes open or closed.

With contributions from Elliot Easton of the Cars, Dave Grohl and the likes of the Queen boys, this album definitely takes you back to the good old days of good 70's rock. And with all the crap out today, this is definitely a good push FORWARD to the PAST. Taylor is definitely coming of age and this album is far better than his first Coattail project release. If you are a fan of good rock and just need a good, fun escape, give this a try. Songs are upbeat, catchy and infused with that Foo+Queen+Beatles+Cars musical quality and influence.

Recommended: "NOT BAD LUCK" - "YOUR SHOES" - "HELL TO PAY" - "JAMES GANG" - "I DON'T THINK I TRUST YOU ANYMORE."

Peace...

Bought it monday, got it thursday. Very catchy and very listen-able. Strong Queen influences mixed with modern rock! Guest muscians are Dave Grohl, Brian May, Roger Taylor and Elliot Easton. A must have if a fan of the Coattail Riders, Foo Fighters or modern rock in general!