Customer Reviews

Weighting

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

 

 

This is a for-fans-only release that shows just how strong a band this version of the Rollins Band was. Melvin Gibbs is solid on bass and Chris Hackett is a wonderful guitar player in the funk/metal tradition. The highlight (well, at least for me) on this disc are the tracks featuring the free jazz maestro Charles Gayle. It is interesting to see him work in the highly confined spaces afforded to hard rock music. At times, he plays with a slow-burn soul, which is interesting to hear (for it is an oddity--he never plays like that on his own records), but for the most part, he squawks along with Haskett's feedback-drenched guitar playing. There are times when he and Rollins duel it out for loudest voice on a track (particularly on "Miles Jam #2" and "Night Sweat"). The live material is good, but hardly noteworthy. But there is a very powerful performance of the Rollins Band's most popular song, "Liar," that shows how passionate and convincing a performer Henry Rollins is.

It's OK. Henry's website has this and many other albums and media on sale for $5 each. Why not go there and buy direct and get the $ to the artist first?

Released in 2004 on Henry Rollins' own label 2.13.61 records, Weighting expands on the Rollins Band's best album, Weight, with several live tracks originally performed on that album as well as several unreleased tracks. The five live songs are all great, with the best being "Volume 4", "Divine Object of Hatred", and an extended version of "Liar", where he changes up the lyrics to rip on the crowd, much to their delight. As for the studio tracks, most of them are top notch as well. The heavy groove of "Fall Guy", which originally appeared on the Tales of the Crypt: Demon Knight soundtrack, the relentless "I See Through", and the intense "Right Here Too Much" are all great tunes that would have fit in just fine on Weight. The remaining four tracks mix the Rollins Band's heavy groove with free jazz. Surprisingly, this works best on the longer tracks. On "Miles Jam #2", Chris Haskett's guitar work, much of which here is long drawn out notes and feedback, and Charles Gayle's sax lend a great accompaniment to Henry's long drawn out rant. "Jam #1" is very moody, building and dropping in momentum throughout, and is always intriguing. The remaining tracks, "Plague #3" and "Night Sweat" don't work nearly as well, occasionally sounding like a cavalcade of noise when Gayle's sax work drowns out the rest of the band. All told, Weighting is a very good album that builds on the intensity and moodiness of its companion album while expanding its musical boundaries.

Here are extra songs from the "Weight" sessions, including three songs that ended up on soundtracks, four songs with New York saxophonist Charles Gayle, and five live songs. "Fall Guy" had appeared on the Demon Knight soundtrack (I didn't watch it), it is a crazy burner with lots of anger. "I See Through" is heavy on the vocals, the band is kind of taking it easy; the song appeared on "Johnny Mnemonic", a film that Rollins had a small role in (he gets murdered by a psychotic, animalistic Dolph Lundgren. "Right Here Too Much", great title, but not an exciting song; still, Rollins is giving it all he's got. I'm not sure which film soundtrack it appeared on.

"Miles Jam #3' is the first song with Charles Gayle, which starts off with bass bopping and drum beating, Rollins doing some sort of an abstract speech about something that pisses him of, the sax comes in slowly after a minute and a half. It's a loose jam and just sort of goes on and on, with Rollins taking his time in his delivery. It's stream-of-consciousness, it seems like he doesn't really have a plan for what he wants to say. "I just want to see what you would do if you were pushed. I mean REALLY pushed." "Plague #3' is a bit funkier, as it has some cool riffs, and is the most like a formal song among the Charles Gayle tracks. It's a great song. "Night Sweat" sounds like just that, and it is tense and jagged, almost Velvet Underground-esque. Rollins moans like a crazy man. "Jam #1' is a pretty good song, the longest on the set at over 14 minutes, starting off slow, building up to some cool guitar riffs and some very nice basswork. Badass!

The live songs are pretty okay, especially a very funky "Disconnect" with its wicked basslines, and some surreal ad-lib (and nasty hollering) on "Liar." "Volume 4' is a pretty good song, but sounds a bit muddy. "Divine Object of Hatred" is not a fantastic song, but it's trippy hearing Rollins holler "divine" over and over again, and there is some nifty bass spazzing. "Civilised" is scary and intense with some great vocal delivery - crazy tonguetwisters like " see what you do when you use what you got but what do you do when you do what you want" and "freedom, you ain't no freedom, you want your freedom,
your freedom is killing you man, freedom, you can't handle your freedom, hey! And now you're dying for it."

this is a good album.songs like "fall guy","right here too much" and "liar" are songs only the rollins band could write.if you like rollins then you will like this.if you have never heard of the rollins band and like angsty music (with some of the songs being catchy and having more elements than angst) then give this a listen.i like it,its better than most stuff shoved in our face today.