Eleven years later after their last album, the latest is "Albratross" from Big Wreck. It is simply one of the best pure rock albums I have heard in a long time and much better than his solo work. Every song is good, and a few are very original sounding and innovative.
The heavy drums are back as are raw guitar riffs and solos prominent, even the bass has some cool licks. But one thing that stands out above all others is Ian Thornley's singing. The vocal melodies are very catchy and you end up singing along in no time. He teases you with high vocal ranges many times in one song, but then blows you away by going even higher. He goes beyond what Chris Cornell can do now and it's safe to say that Thornley is THE best rock singer, if not one of the best rock songwriters, out there today... right up there with Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters. There, I said it.
I've got four tickets and going with friends to see them live on Star Wars Day (May The Fourth) here in Edmonton. Very much looking forward to it. When I saw them many moons ago, I can honestly say it was one of the best live shows I've ever seen and heard.
- "Head Together" - 3:54 -- Gregorian rock vocal harmony build at the beginning simply kicks ass and the song explodes into a common, almost off-time sounding guitar riff from the whole band. Excellent chorus and harmonies. It's perfect first song to start the album in a bold direction. (3.5 fists / 5)
- "A Million Days" - 4:25 -- Another bold beginning, this song glides with heavy drums and flowing lyrics and then heads into constant drum with piano hit hints, minor chord changes and then a very heavy bridge. It sets you up for a brilliant contrast where it calms down into an acoustic guitar chorus and the catchy title "Stay with me for a million days" will have you singing along in no-time. A very well produced and engineered song too. That whole thing repeats then goes into a raunchy Les Paul solo. Then you're back into the chorus without drums and builds into further chorus lullaby lyrics. He then hits a high note on "STAY!" and sings out the chorus a couple more times. (4.5 fists / 5)
- "Wolves" - 4:13 -- I love electric banjo and the 1-2-3-- beat has you tapping your foot along. The vocal melodies are some of the best I've ever heard. The double harmony electric mandolin solo is pure innovative and mimicks the verse melodies. Again, Ian's vocals take you way beyond you'd expect to go. This is a full acoustic sounding song throughout. (4 fists / 5)
- "Albatross" - 4:14 -- The first single says, yes, this is definitely a Big Wreck song. It starts slow with a slide riff and hooks you in to the full band coming in with the main riff copying the beginning. Then he sings the first verse with acoustic guitar on the riff and it builds the prechorus with bass added and then another guitar added. It then glides into the next verse with a mini-bridge and slide guitar riff. The verse melody meter matches the beats perfectly. Then the chorus kicks up again full and into a slide solo that matches the chorus. Back to the chorus with the slide guitar. This repeats and Ian's singing gets higher until he fucking kicks it up way higher on "ALBATROSS!" and it quickly calms down with just him singing. (4 fists / 5)
- "Glass Room" - 4:57 -- I think this is my favourite on the album. Starts with a quiet clean guitar funk chord strum riff and tight drums in a no-reverb room and the grooving bass line on the verse with reverb is what drives this song. Then a slight rhythm guitar kicks in on the groove and builds as the verse progress. The bridge opens up the song and the chorus mimicks the verse chords but hits a cool minor on the second half. Ian's vocals kick up. The next verse returns but the rhythm guitar is doing a bit more subtlty. The verse vocals flow more and the bridge and chorus repeats. The next part with a major to minor chord switch (one of my favourite but simple chord progressions) with Ian's high flowing vocal is the. Bridge again but now the chorus is just vocals with hints of guitar strums and then it kicks in again loud slowly then full speed. The end pitters out with the intro and some hits to end. (5 fists / 5)
- "All Is Fair" - 5:08 -- A screaming tele guitar starts it off and a full chord simple but rauncy riff. Verses again flow nicely with chord riff. Another catchy chorus "All is fair in love and war... but you can't compare the two anymore...". Verse, bridge, chorus again. Solo is harmonized to the verse. Ending is quiet with harmonized "ooohs" and Ian's singing the chorus and then explodes full on and then the riff repeats multiple times with side guitar accents, including a neat descending bass line that accents a couple times in the song. (3.25 fists / 5)
- "Control" - 6:35 -- This is another beautifully sounding deep blues song--very Mark Knoppfler / Dire Straits sounding. Mellow but flowing through excellent chord structures and subtle harmonies on bridges and choruses. The riff then jumps into a heavier and louder sound given the song a lot of contrast to the acoustic verse. The extended solo is exactly what this type of song is supposed to have. A wonderfully perfectly produced song like this earns 5 fists / 5.
- "Rest Of The World" - 2:51 -- In a massive contrast to the last song, this one is very loud and heavy. Being that Ian has played on some Nickelback songs, it's no surprise that a similar sounding song to them would creep through--drop D fully compressed guitar. That said, it's a million times better than any Nickelback song ever. The verses have a very heavy bass backing it up. The bridge to chorus transition builds like an orgasm and the chorus vocals screams above any of the loudest porn star orgies. The words are very personal and seem to invigorate much built-up anger Ian has had inside of him since he was a young lad. In this song, he lets it all out, and it's pure honesty. (3.75 fists / 5).
- "You Caught My Eye" - 5:29 -- First thing that caught my ear on this one was how similar it is to the sound of another big Canadian band -- Big Sugar. It's almost as if Gordie Johnston is producing it himself. A heavy distorted Gibson two chord riff dominates the song in a blues progression with singing. The solo screams through and you can just picture Ian fingering his guitar. (3 fists / 5).
- "Do What You Will" - 3:37 -- "Huh huh!" laughs Ian. "Let 'em out , let 'em out of the cage!" Ian's vocals is up there again. A very loud full song. (3 fists / 5).
- "Time" - 4:06 -- A great mellower anthemic song to round out the album. The snare stick hits are like a clock ticking--I'm sure that was the intention considering the title. But the multi-mandolin sounds awfully familiar to "The Battle of Evermore" from Zep IV... but that's quite okay with me! Later on, this song gives me tingles as vocals come from all angles. (4.75 fists / 5).
