Customer Reviews

No Deliverance

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2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Toadies rock. There is no better way to start a review of their new cd then by saying that. When their first album came out in 1994, they rocked. But now they are even better if thats possible.
The Toadies first cd was a tour de force of rock licks, catchy lyrics, and pure Texas attitude. With a dirty guitar and a almost ZZ Top feel. Then when Hell Below/Stars Above came out they almost completely abandoned their style. The album was more muted. Gone was a lot of the fire they made the debut such a gem. It seemed like the Toadies were done. But not so...
Not only are they back with No Deliverance, they are back with a vengeance! This is arguably the best album they have ever done. The licks are stronger, the rythum tighter, the vocals perfect, this is their defining cd.
Such songs prove this as the opener "Such Long Lovey Eyes" and the straight up southern rocker "I Am a Man of Stone". And the songs "Flower" and " Song I Hate" prove that not only are the Toadies back, but they are better than they were 14 years ago. Rock on!

Toadies defie comparison, they are a alternative band with a hard core solid metal center. Some of the best of metal in my view.

Allmusic says the Toadies are similar to Foo Fighters, Better Than Ezra, Hole, Weezer, Soul Asylum, and Live. I think if you took everything hard core about each of those groups, you might be close to Toadies. But there's really some kind of Black Sabbath and Metallica tossed in.

Frankly, this is way better than I expected. Your tastes have to run very wide to enjoy this group. They are hard core. And the label really should read parental advisory. The first cut uses the f word about 10 times what it takes to be an R rated film. The second cut just barely makes it R rated. The rest is fine.

The reason this group is so hard to pigeon hole, they are unique. They stand out in a mass of perfectly produced assembly line groups. The beat is solid, very listenable, memorable. The mix is well near perfect, crystal clear. I've heard so much badly produced / mixed music recently. This disc is a listening pleasure.

I spend a lot of time and money seeking out great rock music. Most of my investment goes toward stuff from the late 60's and early 70's. I've long ago collected all the classic stuff, and now I focus on the obscure gems. But, occasionally, something new from the present-day emerges which captures my attention and earns my respect.

This is such an album. It has a unique sound, and each song is distinctive to the one before and after. Definitely hard rock, not pop or lite by a mile and then some. Driving, pulsating, but comfortable to listen to. No disonant sounds or songs which blemish. Honestly, I'll be listening to this non-stop for the next week or two. I don't do that often. Usually it is one listen and then the CD goes into the box until I happen on it again someday.

I will have to check out these guys' previous albums. They definitely know what they're doing, and I extend them my highest compliments.

First off, I'm 48 years old and ever since I can remember I've had a strong connection to music. My tastes run more to Beatlesque pop than the heavy darkness of music like Metallica. That said, I still like the later in selected small amounts. I also very much like that which is in between and of high quality such as Led Zeppelin. While metal isn't my forte' I do very much like bands such as King's X that remain quite heavy while infusing it with pop melodies. King's X never enters the so-called "bubblegum metal" realm and I appreciate that. I would like to find another band such as this that I could enjoy and with that I ordered Toadies "No Deliverance".

The first time I listened to this album I thought I'd not want to listen to it again as it was so dark, so heavy, and, seemingly, light on melody and anything resembling a "hook". I did hear something compelling in that this band was tight, the vocals of Vaden, though angry, sounded absolutely perfect for this style of metal. The songs were compact and not at all plodding like some metal so after rethinking my expectations I decided to listen again. This time I was able to actually hear much more of what Toadies "No Deliverance" is all about and it is actually pretty good and much more listenable than I first thought. With repeated listens it continues to be easier to find somewhat more to appreciate. The track "Song I Hate" is a standout and wouldn't shame Nirvana in the least. "Hell In High Water" recycles that famous driving bass riff from Golden Earring's "Radar Love" and casts it in an angry metal mold that is tasty. The other songs are almost equally strong with some exceptions; "Flower" which I thought to be the weakest on the album, "One More" was either too dark, too enigmatic, or just not melodic enough to really engage me, and the last song "I Want Your Love" isn't really so much a song but a coda on what seems to be the theme that runs through most of the songs: The failure of obsessive love.

All in all, within the realm of this type of music this is a good album made by seasoned pros that have a "spot-on" vocalist and a meaty guitar sound. I am not yet a "big" fan, but if you are predisposed to like dark metal this has got to be one of the better albums within that genre.

Raw emotions seethe from all the No Deliverance tracks. The no holds barred rock features great lyrics like:

"From the fire that we started how did we get so f'ing cold?"
"I tried so hard to change you, to make you something I could enjoy"
"My chest is caving in from the weight of the pain you bring."

Fans of heavy rock will love Toadies No Deliverance.

Not being familiar with the band, I took a chance, always interested in new music. From the 2 x 4 wallop of the opening cut 'So Long Lovely Eyes', you know you're in for fun. Featuring some really impressive guitar on songs like 'Nothing to Cry About', the hard rocking 'Flower' and the title track 'No Deliverance', the album grows with each listen. On 'I Want Your Love', it begins with an ominous, even threatening, spoken-word repetition of the title, with a fiery guitar cutting in. Whoa!
The vocals sound like AC/DC on some tunes, a bit like the Red Hot Chile Peppers on others (and, believe it or not, a bit of Deep Purple). With a solid rhythm section and that blistering guitar, No Deliverance is well worth checking out if you're in the mood for some new tunes to satisfy that need to rock.

I feel like I need to admit to some preconceptions and biases before I try to write this review. I grew up with The Toadies. I love The Toadies. For the longest time I only had Rubberneck (their first full album, and as far as I can remember their only commercial success) to base that opinion on, but it was enough. That record has to be included among whatever approximation of a top 5 albums I could formulate if I were forced to do such a silly thing.

I guess that's why I'm so disappointed with No Deliverance, their newest entry after the band's resurrection. No Deliverance is a competent album by most measures. Though dedicated fans may notice a much heavier emphasis on the drums and a slightly simplified guitar sound, the basic Toadies formula remains intact here. What's missing from this record are the more radio-friendly tracks that fogeys like myself would remember from Rubberneck. While what's here is reasonably good, the lack of those tracks makes me feel that this isn't a record that I'm going to be re-visiting a month or a year from now.

I can make this simple. Toadies fans that don't already have this record should buy it now, and no amount of fault-finding on my part would dissuade one from doing just that. If you've never heard of the band.....I'm not sure that this is the greatest place to start with the Toadies. What I can say for sure, though, is that this definitely is NOT Rubberneck, and I can only hope that the next album will be. For anybody looking for a good piece of music, though, you could certainly do worse than No Deliverance.

Remember when bands like Lit and Splender and The Gin Blossoms were big? Around the same time, there was also a little band called Toadies that was getting some big play with their debut album Rubberneck. But even with the massive success of their first album, their label didn't approve of their second album and it was never released... so it wasn't until 2001 when they put out their second album, and by then a lot of their fame had died down and they ended up breaking up.

But now they're back with a new album (and a pretty similar sound). No Deliverance reflects the rock mentality that the band has come to represent to many, but also manages to keep it a little lighter on songs like "Song I Hate" and "Don't Go My Way." What's impressive is that the band sounds equally good with either style (though I prefer the more melodic tracks).

No Deliverance as a whole is a fairly decent album - it just sounds like it was recorded in 1999 rather than 2008. Fans of the band will not be disappointed, but they're unlikely to pull in new listeners.

If you grew up in the 90's listening to alternative/modern rock, chances are you'll remember hearing the Toadies biggest hit, "Possum Kingdom," from their debut album, Rubberneck (1994), being played a lot on the radio. They would do one more album, Hell Below/Stars Above, nearly 7 years later in 2001 before splitting up. Lead singer, Vaden Todd Lewis immediately formed his next band, Burden Brothers, and released two more albums with them: Buried In Your Black Heart (2002) & Mercy (2006).


Nearly 15 years since their major label debut, The Toadies reunite with their 3rd studio album, No Deliverance. Basically an homage to 90's modern rock, No Deliverance features a plate full of ditties that sound and feel like songs from that era. You'll be reminded of other 90's bands like Stone Temple Pilots & the Foo Fighters (among others) with a number of tracks, like the opening hit, "So Long Lovely Eyes," and "Nothing To Cry About." Other cool songs include "I Am A Man Of Stone," "Song I Hate," and "One More."


While it's of course nothing we haven't heard before, No Deliverance feels as if it was made to get the band back into their old groove and enjoy that same chemistry they experienced back in the day. Listening to So Long Lovely Eyes reminded me, in many ways, of the band's own past relationship ("All good things must have an ending, how we lived loved laughed and cried...But now those days seem like just a fantasy...we got so far away from the fire that we started. How did we get so @#$%ing cold?" Their reformation is a welcome return and hopefully we won't have to wait another 7 years for their next release.


No Deliverance: Toadies are Back!


"You don't look so happy to me
You're so lost, you're so alone
And I'm standing here
I am a man of stone"
- V.T.Lewis/M.Reznicek/C.Vogeler


Also recommended:
Best of Toadies: Live From Paradise

I know the Toadies almost entirely through their singles, and I've always been impressed at how many good singles they have and how well they've stood the test of time (they get played heavily in my city). There aren't many tracks here that will appeal to people who only like the lighter, poppier songs (Song I Hate being the most "Toadies"-ish), but if you like their heavier tracks, this is a solid, tight group of songs, with maybe one or two I'd skip in repeated listening. Nothing as great as Tyler or some of their best singles, though.

If you only know the radio songs but are curious about the deeper tracks, I'd describe it as Soundgarden via North Texas.