When it comes to this type of music I’m extremely biased, so along with the review I’ve decided to do a very brief retrospective, skip the next two paragraphs to get to the actual review.

Yeah, I love using my own sloppy photos,

Music as an art form is a funny thing to think about considering that it has evolved more in the past half century then ever before in the entire history of mankind. The reasons behind this are obvious of course, with the coming of radio and development and advancement of recording technology. The very function of music in our society has changed as we know it. It wouldn’t be outrageous to claim that a lot of these changes are due to the coming of the digital age, most significantly the changes that occurred in the 1990s and early 21st century. The availability of CDs and eventually mp3s made portable hifidelity music so commonplace we often take it for granted, forgetting the days where we had to turn the tape over. Digital distribution probably didn’t even enter the minds of artists during the 32/56k era, but alas here we are today. However something else changed in music as well, not just the industry around it, but the music itself. Hiphop and rap exploded into the mainstream and dominated radio play, looking back its not hard to understand why at the time with artists such as Public Enemy, Run DMC, Biggie Smalls and Sean Combs leading the charge at the time. However along with the prolific styles of these came a sign of things to come. The music, not just hiphop and rap but all music at the time, started to bleed across all forms of media, there was a rampant commercialization. Although this was hardly exclusive to the 90s, because of the de-evolution of advertisement to the byte media we have today it was so much more apparent. As a result commercialized hiphop, rap, and rock in particular became so ingrained in society that with the digital age today it is literally everywhere. While the music itself may have the same crap to gold ratio as ever, there is no longer escape from the former.

The mid 90s was my first real exposure to pop music, prior to that my listening consisted of the Bach and Beethoven tapes mom kept in the car, in retrospect still more pro than what I was listening to early 2000. However among all the hiphop and rap on the radio, there was one other piece of music that has a huge significance in my life. My father introduced me to the LP when he played me the album Revolver, which forever changed my appreciation for music. Naturally being a child of the 90s I had little exposure to the pop music and classic rock of the 50s, 60s and 70s. There are few things I remember early on in life, fortunately one of those things I remember is hearing the Revolver LP for the first time. The sounds produced were literally out of this world, and if I had to choose the piece of music that has had the most impact on me there is no doubt that it would be Tomorrow Never Knows. As a result of listening to Revolver I’ve always had a love for psychedelic, classic rock, and rock n’ roll, and the very same album from back then sits in my current record collection today.

All that provided I’ve been jaded as far as rock goes in the current day, denied the opportunity of living during the classic rock days of Steppenwolf and Creedence Clearwater Revival, the psychedelic days of Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, the  rock ’n roll days of George Thorogood and the Bon Scott era of AC/DC, even the pop rock days of The Mommas and The Poppas and The Grassroots. Which is why when Wolfmother released their self titled album back in 2005 I couldn’t have been a happier camper. With it they managed to touch upon a little bit of all of these, even going as far as classic rock references in songs titles. There were psychedelic tracks like Mind’s Eye and Tales, rock n’ roll tracks like Love Train and Dimension, pop rock tracks like Woman, and all around boss tracks like Witchcraft. However the band seemingly up and disappeared in 2008, and when I learned that two of the three members left the band I was devastated, no other band with such a classic feel had gained as much mainstream success in years, and I was worried that it would be the last of it. And then out of nowhere by some grace of the classic rock gods the reformation of the band with three new members and subsequent follow up album was announced.

At first I was a bit conflicted, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted more music from this band. At the same time I couldn’t help but worry that with the switching of the lineup there would be a switching of the sound. I was concerned that that gritty, down n dirty rock sound from the first album would be gone. But then I picked up the album. For reference I got the Deluxe 2-Dsic Edition.

Two Disc Edition

Right from the start all of my worries were put to rest. The first disc opens up deliciously heavy, classically distorted track California Queen (All these songs from awesome bands about California, guys, Red Hot Chili Peppers aren’t going anywhere, don’t worry.) I don’t know whether or not the next track title, New Moon Rising, is in reference to a certain awesome classic rock track, but what I do know is that it is pretty fucking sweet. The track Sundial is so funky you’d think Tom Morello stepped in to write that riff. But by far the best track in my opinion on the first disc is the title track Cosmic Egg, when it starts up you’d think Andrew Stockdale was about to give you narrative about alcohol, his girl, and more alcohol. Also the end of the first disc feels like an actual end rather than an arbitrary splitting point. Far Way, the last track on the first disc, opens with a riff sounding much like The Smashing Pumpkins’ Today, except this track isn‘t about killing yourself. Similarly the second disk also feels like a start of a second album, as a result the overall feeling is that of a double album than a regular album, even though it’s not. The second disk contains some of the chiller tracks on the album, such as In The Castle and Caroline, which are a bit more minimalist, but much more beautiful than any of the other tracks, much like Tales or White Unicorn from the first album. At the same time this isn’t a sappy disk, containing high energy racks such as Back Round and Pilgrim. There are a couple tracks that stand out for me on the second disk, such as Eyes Open as it starts really smooth and sweet, then gets really heavy, then slows down into and turns into a really beautiful track. Caroline, while clearly a rock ballad written for the sake of having a rock ballad, is still an incredibly pleasant song to listen to. Much like the first disk the second disk finishes appropriately, with Violence of the Sun leaving you wanting even more from this fantastic band.

Inner Case

There are only two gripes I have with the album. The first, 5 out of the 16 tracks start with guitar panned completely to the right, and while a cool effect once or twice, five times is kind of repetitive. The second is a much bigger gripe, but nothing to do with the music. For whatever reason the band decided to release the two versions of the album, I don‘t agree with the marketing concept. While I understand and furthermore endorse the concept of exclusive tracks, there is no excuse for releasing an incomplete version of the album. It will mislead people who aren’t aware of the situation, and they aren’t getting the complete listening experience. Also, exclusive tracks should be exclusive to physical media when given the choice between physical and digital, a while this is the case when you buy the deluxe edition, its not if you buy the regular edition. There should not be exclusivity between physical and physical, that’s stupid. (Unless we’re going oldschool and doing vinyl exclusives, and there is an LP of Cosmic Egg with all the songs, which I do plan on getting cause I’m sure it sounds even more fantastic)

Overall the album is loud, gritty, noisy, down ‘n dirty, the way rock should be. Since I don’t believe in arbitrary numbers or ratings as that defeats the purpose of a review, I give the album seventeen yesssssssssssssssssssssss’es. If you dig classic rock I highly recommend checking it out. The entire album is being streamed on their myspace, and is available on CD in Regular and Deluxe editions, digitally on iTunes, and on Vinyl if you’re one of the cool kids. If you want all the tracks you have to get the Deluxe Edition or the LP, but it’s so worth it.

Tracklist

http://www.wolfmother.com/

http://www.myspace.com/wolfmother