Customer Reviews

Trouble

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

let's start by saying that i have owned over 2,000 different rock and metal cds and lps over the last 30+ years, and that i have been playing the drums for over 25 years, so i like to think i know a little about music. i don't like giving "best of" titles when it comes to my(our)music, because that is purely subjective, and one's own opinion. however, in this case, it seems i have some company in my felling that this may be one of the best metal releases of all time. i hate saying that, but it may be the god's honest truth. it really is hard to beat it. it is far and away the best of Trouble's career, and may be the best of the 90's, as it was released in '90. Down's Nola album from '95 is a close second. out of the thousands of titles i have owned, it ranks in the top 5. how's that for status? anyway, enough of the babble, just pay the money to get it, or borrow it, or whatever, just get it. i , fortunately, bought it new, and don't have to pay what it's goin' for, but i'll tell ya', it's worth it. really. it's that good. check it out. some things in life were just meant to be. this is one of those. peace.

I heard this album is going to be re-released soon so don't pay these crooks prices. Trouble have a new album coming out soon and their whole catalog is supposed to be re-released. This is their best album in my opinion and it will be worth the wait for the re-release!

This was Trouble at their best and coolest. These guy's vintage guitar tone is my favourite, it's like honey coated breakfast cereal with razors, crunchy, sweet and sharp. Rick Rubin gave them the production that was both retro 70's and 90's presence. He ironed a few rough edges out too, especially with Eric Wagner's vocals. Barry Stern provided the solid straight ahead back beat, something that they struggled with here and there.
The songs on this have driving doomy riffs and solos galore and come across like groovy Chicago blues meets Black Sabbath meets Judas Priest meets Deep Purple with a bit of Pink Floyd. James Hetfield owes a lot to this band.
It's still as good 15 years after I bought the vinyl version.
Lets hope their new album picks up from where this left off.

Having read the other reviews, I am hesitant to concur that this is the best metal album of all time, or even the best Trouble album. However, I can certainly understand the latter claim, and don't find the former claim ridiculous. However, I'd say it is impossible to call anything the absolute best of any genre as diverse, multi-facted, etc. as metal.

That being said, without question, Trouble is one of the most underrated rock bands of all time, metal or otherwise. I have heard this album described as the perfect "bridge" album between metal and hard rock, and I think that's a good description. What might make one say it's the best Trouble album is that this is the album where they really start to hone their "chunky" throbbing guitar line which defines them. There is still plenty of Sabbath resonating here, but a bit more upbeat. The guitar work and time changes definitely mark an increased sophistication from the earlier work. I personally am a huge doom fan, and Trouble is possibly my favorite band ever, but I like the Skull the best (one many find to be their weak link) simply because it is their gloomiest, and lyrically most serious work. This album is definitely more sophisticated musically, but it merely has a doom "vibe" as opposed to embodying doom rock. The Pink Floyd experiment which began on Run to the Light is continued here full force with Misery Shows, a haunting song that will stick with you. The rest of the album rocks---it gallops more than plods,
but it never enters the "speed" zone. Every song is a good one.
The second half of the album captures the old gloomy feeling a bit more, particularly on RIP, END, and Black Shapes of Doom (an overlooked song; this song also shows the greatest Sabbath influence on the album).
One final note. Trouble are sometimes known as the first non-Christian band to include prominent Christian lyrics in their material. This album also marks the line where they retain traces of this, but move away from it as an overt feature. There are veiled powerful references to Christian themes, say, in "Psychotic Reaction," but their are much more obvious, but tone down, allusions to Christian sensibilities in the "End of My Daze," "RIP," and "END," which could be interpreted simply along "moral" and not explicitly religious lines. The most obvious references are in "All is Forgiven," and "Heaven's on my Mind," the latter song which many like because of it's anthemic qualities, but which personally moves the most away, I feel, from the doom aesthetic.

Overall, highly recommended, but not necessarily over and above their earlier work. For the average fan, though, this would probably leave the best impression of Trouble's overall sound, as it effectively captures the shift between their straight, Sabbath doom of their previous albums, and the 70s influenced hard rock (think Zeppelin, hendrix, and especially Deep Purple, with only the vaguest Sab undertones) of their subsequent albums.

I have been a hard rock/metal junkie for most of my 44 years and literally grew up on the sounds of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Motorhead and others...I grew to love the 'new' bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Metalchurch, Candlemass, Armored Saint, etc, but the one who has risen to the top of the hill in my opinion is the Chicago doom metal band Trouble. From their early Metal Blade releases to this masterpiece was a steady climb that certainly peaked, but did not end, with this release. This is 'the' cd that I can listen to every day and never tire of. I can load a stack of cd's for daily listening, and this one I still look forward to every time! From the pounding beats, the heavy steady bass, the dual guitar harmony rythms and leads, every song seems to be a perfect work of art, expertly arranged and played with a demonic frenzy, sometimes slowing down to explore some cosmic scenery (Sinners Fame, Misery Shows pt 2), other times speeding up for a downhill rush that leaves your brain numb trying to keep up (heaven on my Mind, Black Shapes of Doom), key changes and time changes so smooth you scarcely notice them, while the beat, bass and guitars keep up that synchronicity that seems to be so rare in todays 'metal' acts. Certainly the guitar riff in 'End of my Daze' ranks with the best of riff god Tony Iommi, who was in fact a huge influence on both Trouble guitarists. I can't say enough about how good this album is. It cost me over $40 to replace it on ebay when my original CD was stolen, and worth every cent. I also have it on vinyl, which seems to give the guitar sounds the extra warmth of a live club show, which is where this band was at its best. I can't figure out why the Def American stuff is out of print, it seems rediculous to me that the demand for this cd has driven the price through the roof, and the record company hasn't yet 'got it'. oh well. It's still worth the money at $30-50. My all time favorite along with Orgasmatron and any of the first 6 Sabbath records.

I can still remember the first time I heard this album, at my friend Brett's place- drunk as hell, thinking my god that is the heaviest guitar tone ive ever heard!! Years later and im still knocked out by this Metal masterpiece!!
Absolutely stoked to hear that this is getting re-released, hopefully now the masses can enjoy it and get knocked on there ass just like me.
I remember "Psychotic Reaction" getting voted one of the heaviest songs of all time in Guitar World a few years back, and apart from that have heard nearly nothing about these guys in the press- downright criminal. Of course we get to hear all about Lars Ulrich's underpants,or Fred
Durst's razor selection.....who cares!!! grow some riffs you guys!!
Anyway buy this album if you can find it, its just THAT SIMPLE.

Waaaay back in the 80s, in junior high, a friend lent me Trouble's debut album "Psalm 9". Recently, I was nostalgic for that old sound and tracked it down, and came across this album as well. Let me tell you that this album is amazing: bluesy, ballsy, heavy, groovy, great production, with great crunchy guitars. A lot of this stuff (especially End of my Daze and Psychotic Reaction) was instantly appealing... if it had ever appeared on the radio this band would have taken off. But program directors, in their infinite wisdom, decided to play Guns n' Roses and AC/DC 300 times/day instead. I found this album a week ago and have been playing it non-stop since: it really is that good.

I find it hard to believe this album is out of print. If you have a chance, or the cash to buy it from a collector, then do so. This disc is truly Trouble's most inspired and noteworthy effort to date. Eric Wanger has an absolutely incredible voice and the emotional thrust of the disc is powered so heavily by it. Production-wise it stands alone. Like other bands, who went to Def American, something clicked. There is something inexplicably real about this disc. It's the closest you will get to hearing what Trouble sounds like live. The first time I saw these gentelmen they were opening for Savatage at the Agora in Cleveland, Ohio, and touring for this album. INCREDIBLE!! This album makes the top ten greatest metal albums of all time easily. The "trouble" is that it's not in print right now. I hope that Trouble will re-release the disc someday, because it stands alone as their best album.

Wow. What do i say other than the music on here is genius. The guitars have a seventies harmony feel to them but they are heavy and deep with a lot of stereo chorus added for that reminscient feeling. Very emotional album. The vocals are very different, resembling Ozzy's tone but definitely original. Once you hear it a few times you fall in love with this album. Not very likely to ever find it elsewhere, trust me I've looked for ten years. Get it while you can metal/rock/music fans...

This self-titled album was my introduction to the band Trouble. I was heavily into metal at the particular time this album came out. This is an album that has never gotten its due because of the time it was released. they were not a flashy poodle metal band that was popular at the time. They were instead a band that fell in the middle of the metal extremes at that time. They did not fit in with the flashier LA type metal bands that were power ballading the radio to death and they were not a thrash metal band. Instead they were this amazing metal band that was heavily influenced by 70's hard rock and metal. Also, some never gave them their due because they did sing songs about spirituality and Christianity. I started reminiscing about this album that I only had on cassette tape until I recently bought the cd from a seller on here. Dave Grohl's Probot project made me remember why I loved Eric Wagner's voice and this great band. The only other album that I listened to of Trouble was Manic Frustration but to me that album never lived up to the greatness of this one. I have not yet ventured into listening to any of Trouble's earlier albums as of yet. This album along with Masters of Reality's Def American debut are the two most underrated and underappreciated albums of all time. I just hope that some day someone has the balls to remaster these two albums and re-release them.