Disc #9: Wolfmother (self-titled)

Artist: Wolfmother
Album: (self-titled)
Released by Modular Recordings in 2005

Before I begin this review, I have to announce some changes. First, I have decided to just listen to the CDs in alphabetical order, top to bottom. I stated in the first post that I would take one from the top, one from the bottom, and meet somewhere in the middle. Apparently, this is already confusing me, as you may have noticed that Wolfmother should not be after Yellowcard, and I should be listening to a CD from the top of the alphabet. I didn't even notice I had gone out of order until after my last post, where I announced Wolfmother would be next. Since I already announced it, I will follow through so as not to disappoint all you Wolfmother fans out there, eagerly waiting.

Second, after reviewing a number of discs so far, I feel that I have been too generous with the scores. It seems as though I may not be leaving much room at the top. Therefore, you may see scores that are a little lower than before. It is also possible that I will give a future disc a score that is lower than one of the first 8 discs, but I may like it more. I suppose only I will know.

Now that you've been filled in, let's move on to Wolfmother's debut full-length album. If you're not familiar with this hard rock band from Down Under, they are very much reminiscent of 1970's hard rock. I recently described them to a friend like this: It's as if Led Zeppelin and The White Stripes met at a party one night, hooked up, and the love-child produced from their one-night stand was Wolfmother.

I received this album for Christmas in 2006 from my good good buddy, Rob Jones. He was home for the holidays from a year in Australia (the first of five) and thought that I should have some authentic Australian rock music. I thank thee, Rob, as its presence has blessed my collection.

In many ways, I find the music to be quite simple. The band is a three-piece, so you get the standard guitar, bass, drum and vocal combo, with the occasional organ or synth added in for depth. The riffs and solos are not overly complex, but are very effective. For hard rock, head-bangin' music, it's pretty easy to listen to (in my opinion).

My favourite tune on this album is "Joker & The Thief", hands down. Start off with a catchy, repeating, "tapped-on" riff, then add some heavy power chords with some low bass and organ. Once you get to Andrew Stockdale's screeching vocals, you're already in for quite a ride. I may be quoted as saying, "This song makes me want to drive fast!"

The album isn't incredibly diverse, but it's super fun to listen to. Also, this album would be a great one to play along to if you're getting into electric guitar. An average player could probably pick up the chords, riffs, and even some of the solos without too much difficulty. Go pick up your axe and give it a shot!

I don't think I would listen to this one every day of the week, but it certainly is an enjoyable listen every now and then, and it's great when you just want to turn it up to eleven and rock out! Although the old Mike might have wanted to give this album an eight or nine, the new Me will grant it a score of:

7

on THE MIKE JONES SCALE OF DISC AWESOMENESS. They released another album last fall which I do not have. Anyone want to take a trip to Deja Vu Discs with me? They might have a copy by now. Or someone could just donate it to me (that's a long-shot, but you must have known it was bound to happen sooner or later).

I hope you'll join me next time, despite the changes (or maybe because of the changes) as the experiment continues with Disc #10: Audio Adrenaline (Some Kind of Zombie).