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RELEASED:April 4 2007
PRODUCER: Sterling Winfield & Band
LABEL: Epic Records
BAND:
Chad Gray
Greg Tribbett
Tom Maxwell
Jerry Montano
Vinnie Paul Abbott |
+
Amazing lineup, Heavy songs sound great
-
Too many slow songs, Track placement kills album pace |
TRACKS:
1.. Hellyeah 2. You Wouldn't Know 3. Matter of Time 4. Waging War 5. Alcohaulin' Ass 6. Goddamn 7. In the Mood 8. Star 9. Rotten to the Core 10. Thank You 11. Nausea 12. One Thing |
OVERVIEW
Hellyeah is a side-project for a few of the members of Mudvayne and Nothingface that started out as an idea in 2003. The band was founded by Chad Grey (Mudvayne) and Tom Maxwell (Nothingface), but they officially formed in 2006 when Vinnie Paul Abbott (of Pantera/Damageplan) signed on as drummer. The making of this album marks the first time Vinnie played drums since the tragic murder of his brother (Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott) onstage in 2004.
SONGS
The title track, Hellyeah, starts off the album with some guitar feedback and then jumps right into a well-suited album opener. Tight rhythm section and great vocals. You Wouldn't Know is the next track, and it’s not a bad song, but it really takes away from the tone that the opening track left. A mid-paced song, but has a good guitar solo that adds to it. With Matter of Time, the album is back on track. Awesome drumming, upbeat tempo, and a slick solo makes this one of the better tracks. Waging War continues the straight ahead hard rock tone, but I found this song boring. From the main riff to the annoying chorus and the ho-hum lyrics. Very generic. Alcohaulin' Ass is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Yes, the lyrics are as cheesy as it gets, but the song really captures how much fun this album probably was to create. Goddamn is a decent track with standard “f-you” vocals. Pretty neutral on it. In the Mood clocks in at about a minute in length and is just an instrumental interlude. Did this alum really need a filler track? No it didn’t. Not cool guys. Star picks the album up with a moderate tempo, but more cheesy lyrics like “…I found my star…that star is you” brings the whole feel of the album down a notch. Rotten to the Core is more of the same drum blasting, guitar driving, vocal screaming good times. Not a standout track, but not filler either. Thank You slows the album down again, but this time it’s for the better. This song is a message to the recently deceased family members of the band. Nothing really groundbreaking lyrically, but the sentiment makes it work. Nausea sounds like a carbon copy of the too few up-tempo songs on this album. The track does the job, but a little too generic sounding. One Thing is the closing track and the last chance to make the experience of listening to the album resonate for days to come. Nope, more of the same copy-and-paste song structure.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the CD is a good, solid rock album. But, when you analyze the disc track by track, you really start to see the flaws and you can imagine how great the album could have been if it had just a bit more of a bite. Too many slow to mid-tempo tracks really sink the pacing of this album. Gray's vocals on the heavier tracks sound strong, but there is too little variety in the faster songs. Some of the songs come across so generic, it really feels like you could cut and paste the various song parts together and come up with the same result. The cover of the album has “Hellyeah” in a sharp metal font, with fire in the background and 5 serious looking guys glaring back at you. From that picture alone, you’d think you’re in for a teeth-kicking ride, but that just isn’t the case.
Review by: Stephen Young
