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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
What happened...?, April 27, 2008
I'd like to preface this unforutnately negative review by saying that I absolutely LOVE Danko Jones.
While "We Sweat Blood" was just a tad uneven, "Sleep Is The Enemy" and "Born A Lion" are two of my favorite rock n roll albums, and for a while I regarded Danko Jones as a modern-day rock god, a bearer of the torch that so many bands today seem uninterested in carrying.
That is why with a heavy heart I must say that "Never Too Loud" should have been called "Never That Good" because its by a fair amount his worst album yet.
Musically speaking, Danko Jones music was never that complicated, but he knew his way around a great riff, and like AC/DC and Helmet, knew that by punctuating his songs with dead air between riffs, he can make the riffs all the more effective. He had tons of attitute and could bark with the best of him (I love his manic preacher delivery on "Love Is Unkind"), and any overt simplicity in his music was made up for by how much attitude, swagger and groove came with it.
With a few exceptions, "Never Too Loud" lacks all of that. Oh sure, some songs might have a good riff, or lots attitude, or a solid groove, but only one or two seem to have it all together in the same song. "Still In High School" has the attitude, but its a downright ugly riff that clomps along and doesn't really go anywhere. "Something Better" throws down an okay groove but wheres the crunch, the attitude? Far too many songs on this album are like that. The worst musical offender in my eyes is "Forest For The Trees" which features a plodding, downright clumsy riff for SIX WHOLE MINUTES!!! Danko's soulful delivery and the guest singers don't help it at all, either. A riff that bad for that long is just torture.
Lyrically, this is some of his worst stuff. Again, one or two songs get by, but "Still In High School" has Danko pining for his glory days in High School, "King Of Magazines" is about how twisted up he gets looking at a pin up girl, and "Let's Get Undressed" features the lyrics "I want to do it but first I got to find my spine." What happened to the towering colossus of testosterone from "Born A Lion?"
Danko used to be almost cartoonish in his macho, cokk rock swagger, now he's reminiscing about high school, pining for pin-up girls, and being too afraid to confess his feelings for an actual girl? I know guys like that, and they're losers.
Combine that with the weak music, and you have half an album that kinda sucks. Is there any light at the end of this tunnel?
For starters, "Code Of The Road" and "Your Tears My Smile" are both hard hitting and memorable, though they don't beat out any of the songs on "Sleep Is The Enemy."
Other songs are good enough for what they are but just don't feel like Danko. The uplifting rock of "City Streets," the bouncy accoustic pop of "Take Me Home," and the 80's power-pop of "Ravenous" (tell me you can't picture Pat Benetar or Scandal doing "Ravenous") are all decent songs, but it sounds like Danko trying too hard to have a hit. And if he is reaching for commercial success, then why isn't this thing out in the US yet?
The only true knock-out on this whole thing is the title track. "Never Too Loud" is the single best Bon Scott classic that AC/DC never recorded. Its great! The riff just kills, the attitude is there, and the lyrics (not to mention Danko's delivery) just NAILS that slightly comical, devilish delivery that Bon Scott was so great at. None of the other songs on this album come close, and thats a darn shame.
Danko fans should make sure to get their hands and ears on that title track somehow, but the album as a whole is a let down.
Here's hoping he gets it right next time.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Never too loud,never too anything, April 16, 2008
Their word is their bond- never too loud, never too anything. Isn't it the truth, the more eagerly you await something, the bigger the disappointment? Have the guys run out of ideas, where are the short, punchy songs, the riffs, the dirty bass, the tempos,the powerful almost screaming vocals, the originality, the brilliance? This is middle of the road rock and listening to one boring track after another, I lived in fear of the ultimate disappointment: a Barry Manilow-type of ballad. This album bears little, if any, resemblance to what the group did before this. I could not get enough of the first albums but this...? The title and two bonus tracks bear a very faint trace of the former glory of Danko Jones. A track by track review isn't necessary- the whole album sucks. My advice: before buying this album, give it a listen somwhere- you might regret wasting your money, as I do. I'm still a Danko Jones fan, but please guys, punch it up again, pretty please?
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5.0 out of 5 stars
awesome rock, December 11, 2008
This is a tremendously good album, and I would definitely say that it's the best one by Danko Jones. The songs are extremely catchy, so much so that I constantly have one stuck in my head since I got the album a few weeks ago. More importantly, these songs ROCK. From the opener, Code of the Road, to the closing title track, these songs demand to be played at maximum volume. This is an album made for blaring in the car with the windows down while driving way too fast. As for the negative reviews of this album, I agree with those people that Danko's early albums were all excellent, but this one takes it to a whole new level of high quality rock. The authors of the negative reviews have to be thoroughly insane not to enjoy this album at least as much as its predecessors. If American radio would get a clue and start playing these songs, Danko Jones would be huge.
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