Bad Things – Age Of Wisdom
The self produced debut album from Tulsa based Bad Things is heavily influenced by classic British hard rock to blues and southern rock. The album has a mixture of all of these and, in parts, a little bit of Metal thrown in for good measure.
The opening track, 'Prison Train' is a solo blues guitar piece. Lasting not much more than a minute, there's a traditional Deep South feel to this and is a nice little track. After such an introduction, there's a surprise as the volume is cranked up for the ZZ Top – styled 'Killing Time'. There are some harsh vocals over heavy chords and the unmistakable Southern influences make this a good track. Having Don Sloan and bassist Harvey Jackson sharing the vocals keeps the listener interested.
The band try to keep the music interesting, changing styles, melodies and tempos both from track to track and during tracks. 'Jack The Ripper' begins relatively quietly but develops into a darker, dirtier sound. Again, blues-based, it becomes more of a modern rock song with the addition of some interesting vocals. These disjointed vocals are also apparent on 'Revolution Man'; a classic rock song with some nice guitar moments. The mood is continued with the driving rock track 'Where Few Have Tread'; a track that's far too vocal-leaden.
'Numb' is a return to the blues. There are the obligatory dirty vocals and some interesting instrumental backing. It's a shame that the better, quieter parts are almost drowned out by the inconsistent vocals. Confusion continues with the next track, 'Flame Burns Out'. Here there's a promising wah wah guitar introduction to the heavy blues rhythm which is very reminiscent of early Groundhogs. Unfortunately, the change of tempo and style to Classic Rock doesn't seem to work.
The final tracks 'Better Than You', 'P.O.D' and 'Age Of Wisdom' really summarize the album. There's acoustic guitar picking, heavy chords, Classic Rock riffs, blues and rocking tempos; it's all there in three tracks.
I wanted to like this album more. The band has great potential and this self produced effort is good. They need to refine their songs so that they are not so disjointed and the vocals don't overpower the great work done by the rest of the band. I'm looking forward to see how they develop.