Rescue Through Tomahawk

Alaska | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Altitude Records
• ASIN: B0007KIFS2
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,482 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rescue Through Tomahawk plays like gimmick-free active rock of a variety that bands from Led Zeppelin to Crazy Horse might endorse—the common thread being a certain heaviness of spirit and a whole lot of thrashing. But raging guitars account for only half of what's great about this 10-song ride. Front man Imaad Wasif, flanked by former Sebadoh bassist Russ Pollard and drummer Lesley Ishino, radiates the kind of rock-god churlishness and heat not seen since Trent Reznor railed against likability more than a decade ago, and he's gifted with a voice that channels everybody from Jim Morrison on stormier tracks ("Surrender") to Morrissey on poutier ones ("The Light"). All this is wrapped in a rather theatrical bow—think My Chemical Romance's noirish material minus the emo whine—but that you can take or leave. Where Rescue Through Tomahawk earns its wampum is on the strength of its outsize, thrillingly menacing sound.-Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great album and different enough to be worth a purchase, June 9, 2005

By 

James Booth (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescue Through Tomahawk (Audio CD)

I saw alaska! live earlier this year when they were supporting another band. Having never heard of them I did not know what to expect, their live show is low key but for a three piece very powerful and they blew me away. That done I bought the CD.

I do not normally bother to write reviews but want to recommend this and hope others will discover this hidden gem. As many reviews have said this is a hard to catagorise album, I would agree with this and it's probably why it's so great. If you like anything from "U2", though "The Doors" to "Joy Division" you'll probably find something to like with this. Not that their sound is particularly reminiscent of any of the above but you can hear moments on the record so many times when it sounds a bit like another band you know. This is so fleeting that all you are left feeling is how interesting and fresh a sound it is.

It is a good honest album that is hard to stop listening to. Some individual tracks are excellent ("Through the Years" and "C the Shape" are my personal favourites) but seems to be even better when listened to from start to finish. Production is not raw but also is not squeaky clean therfore it really sounds as powerful as their live sound. All in all a cracking album and one of my favourites of 2005 so far.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Rock, April 13, 2005

By 

Joshua P. Mueller "eclecticworkshops" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rescue Through Tomahawk (Audio CD)

Rescue Through Tomahawk finds the band sounding still as dark and romantic as their excellent, much loved first album emotions, but with a more live raw-rock energy. It's a truly out of time experience- its 10 tightly performed naturalistic epics, full of alarm, are seemingly the product of walking through the desert humming old Neill Young songs. Certainly worth your time.

5.0 out of 5 stars unabashed, July 21, 2008

By 

Jared Pace "jrock" (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rescue Through Tomahawk (Audio CD)

I have been coming back to this album time and time again since 2005, when they blew me away live. This album has everything you need for a thrill-ride of unabashed, vehement rock. RTT covers the gamut of emotions all while constantly surging back and forth between pop and dissonance and never really resolving that issue. However, this 'issue' is a gift because it provides a powerful basis for repeated listening. RTT provides, and provides again, and again. Alaska! sounds like Zeppelin and Unwound fallen down a well, injured and starved, writing music to save their lives.