Malibu Storm

Malibu Storm

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• Original Release Date: August 10, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B000269RWE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #250,585 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
While still teenagers, Michael Alden and his twin sisters Dana and Lauren won music competitions, performed professionally on the contemporary bluegrass circuit, and even self-released an album, Duality, in 1996. Malibu Storm is their first for Rounder and is a potent introduction to the various facets of their compelling talents. With the exception of the instrumental "Clover," the trio works with a bracing range of outside material, showcasing their playing and, most especially, their vibrant, genetically linked harmony singing. They know the roots of the music they love and are not afraid to branch out, fearlessly drawing from such disparate sources as Def Leppard ("Photograph"), Janis Ian ("Some People's Lives"), and Allen Toussaint ("Working in a Coal Mine"). --David Greenberger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Newgrass with more of an edge than ever before, August 2, 2004

By	Michael (AngryCountry.com) - See all my reviews

Lyrics that are absolutely country, harmonies that rival the top groups in Nashville and a style that is all their own. These are the trademarks of Malibu Storm and their debut album from Rounder Records. I highly reccomend it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surfgrass??, October 22, 2004

By	Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Their given name probably conjures up fun in the sun, and surf-rock music a la the Ventures and the Beach Boys. Their sound, however, is a modern take on bluegrass. So it goes with the debut album of sisters Dana Burke and Lauren Mills and their brother Michael Alden--collectively known as Malibu Storm.

With Dana on vocals and banjo, Lauren on fiddle and vocals, and Michael on bass and vocals, but utilizing many of the Usual Suspects (Bryan Sutton; Adam Steffey; Rob Ickes) of Nashville's bluegrass session musicians community, Malibu Storm have made a very good start for themselves here. In general, most of the songs here, including the Rebekka Bramlett-Beth Nielsen Chapman composition "Old Hickory Lake", are well-suited for their newgrass (or is it "surfgrass") approach. Others, like their down-home cover of Lee Dorsey's 1966 R&B classic "Working In A Coal Mine", get an unusual treatment with the traditional bluegrass instruments. Obviously, the one track on this album that is liable to raise some ire with many (it already has here, at least once) is their cover of Def Leppard's 1983 arena-rock smash "Photograph." Cries of "Heresy!" are likely to be heard here more and more often from now on--to think that this song could receive a bluegrass approach! Personally, though, even if this version gets steeped in controversy, I don't think the trio have done any worse by covering this Def Leppard song than Dolly Parton did by "bluegrassing" up Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven."

Overall, this is a fairly good album--probably not totally perfect (and of course there's the matter of the Def Leppard cover), but compared to much of the dreck Nashville has force-fed its audience in recent years, you can do far, far worse than Malibu Storm.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Malibu Storm - fun & talented, September 10, 2004

By	Reddy - See all my reviews

I love the harmonies and these folks can play! This is a great record; light, breezy and anchored with strong musicianship. Sometimes you just want to sit back, relax, sing along & tap your toe. What a relief to know that there's more than just bubblegum pop coming from the next generation!