| I just bought this album over the weekend, but haven't had a chance to hear
it yet. The first single was called "Peace Pipe", and now "Bad Thing" is
the second single.
Very 70's-rock influenced, ie. Bad Company/Grand Funk kinda band. I like
what I've heard so far...
alan
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| Cry Of Love Delivers Serious Blues Rock
by Steve Morse
Boston Globe, January 13th, 1994
Arena managers are starved for new rock stars - and the record
industry is working overtime to oblige. The problem is that most bands spit
out by the industry's assembly line are lucky to ever headline clubs, let
alone arenas. Then along comes a band like Cry Of Love, which is already
opening arena dates for Aerosmith and seems a sure bet for stardom.
The North Carolina-based group, currently hot with the singles "Peace
Pipe" and "Bad Thing", offers a hard-rock pastiche of sound colors from
past and present arena stars Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Aerosmith, Jimi
Hendrix, the Allman Brothers (Cry Of Love did snippets of the Allmans' "In
Memory Of Elizabeth Reed") and Led Zeppelin. In short, blues rock with
serious, kick-butt intent.
The amazing thing is that Cry Of Love - named for a Jimi Hendrix song
- puts it all together so admirably. "They're a real 70's derivative, but they
made a good record that sounds great on the radio", said WBCN disk jockey
Mark Parenteau, standing in the packed audience at Tuesday's 'BCN-sponsored
Paradise show (a break in Cry Of Love's East Coast shows with Aerosmith) that
was also broadcast live on the station.
Personally, Cry Of Love's debut album, 'Brother', get the benefit of
the doubt from this writer, but has some klutzy moments that still suggest a
band with a long way to go. The live show, however, suggests a band getting
there in a hurry.
Onstage, Cry Of Love rocked hard with a rawness - an almost
Soundgarden-like intensity at times - that made the album seem tame. Wiry
and wired guitarist Audley Freed slammed out riffs with ferocious glee,
helped by piston-driving drummer Jason Patterson and beat-popping bassist
Robert Kearns. They affixed a near-metal edge to "Too Cold In The Winter"
and the Bad Company-ish "Bad Thing". Both outshined the album versions.
The highly-skilled quartet was also unafraid to jam. "Do you mind if
we jam? That's what rock 'n' roll is all about, right?" asked singer Kelly
Holland, a capable front man and excellent rhythm guitarist.
The band showed more growth in an unrecorded new song, "Broken Toy",
a wrenching ballad about love gone sour. The only real flop was the
superficial "Highway Jones", where Holland sounded like a generic shouter:
"Finding my highway Jones, learning to shake my bones!". That was a long
way from the insightful politics of "Peace Pipe", which moved the crowd with
its message of Native American rights (singer Holland is part Cherokee). The
band still needs to reconcile its extremes, but its ascent to the arenas
seems unstoppable. The charisma is there. All else should follow.
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| Alan is right - I think in .3 Alan mentioned I would love these guys...
SO... I went to see 'em last night at The Rack-n-Roll. Great show!!
I will say that the singer, drummer, and bassist are the band... The
guitarist left me a little cold with his meandering on the fret board.
I was quite amazed at what gear they had also - A Fender Twin
"Master" and a pair of 4x12's, and a pair (!) of SVT cabs, with
TWO heads. The drummer had a small DW kit.
A real kickin' show - I'm definately reminded of what Skynyrd might
sound like if they were still around (you know what I mean).
What a bunch of ugly doods tho - eesh!
jc (Who gives 'em TWO thumbs up!)
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