SEA SHANTIES

High Tide's debut album, Sea Shanties, seriously is an underrated/unknown gem. This album is a great meld of early metal and psychedelic rock. Tony Hill wrote, sang and played guitar on every track here, and he is the reason why Sea Shanties is my personal favorite guitar album of all-time. This guy absolutely shreds on most of the tracks here. The opening track, "Futilist's Lament", starts things off in a blaze of glory, but the next track, "Death Warmed Up", is not only the album's crowning achievement, but possibly the group's as well. It features Hill's full-fledged guitar assault take on the violin of a very talented Simon House. This song is a choatic, freaked out masterpiece. Things settle down with the atmospheric "Pushed, But Not Forgotten", and the awesome "Walking Down Their Outlook". The next track,"Missing Out" has some rather weak vocals from Tony Hill, but the jamming he and House does on this song more than makes up for it. The album closes with "Nowhere", which is a dramatic and fine way to end this terrific album. The interplay with Hill's guitar and House's violin is heard all throughout the ablum, and is one of Sea Shanties awesome qualities. The rhythm section consisting of drummer Roger Hadden and bassist Peter Pavli is solid, as these guys are better than your average drummer and bassist in my opinion. Sea Shanties, along with the group who made the album, should not be overlooked.