A SOCIAL GRACE

One of my favorite all time bands period. I've listened to this album so many times and it neve gets boring. Buddy Lackey is one of the greatest vocalists these ears have ever heard, it's a shame he quit the band and started the less interesting Dead Soul Tribe. It has a great combination of complexity, technicality, raw energy, and a dark tension that permeates throughout most of the songs. This band plays with great energy and never lets up, even on lighter songs like I Remember and Only In A dream. I Remember is a ballady song dedicated to lead singer Buddy Lackey's idol, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, and he also plays flute to add a nice touch to the dedication. Nothing is my favorite song, it shows the bands awareness of the problems human being cause to the planet, the greed and materialistic nature of humans, that they need to realize that life is short and that they are wasting their lives searching for the wrong things(wealth, objects). A Psychotic Waltz brings into question the meaning of life and Lackey's disdain for those who think they have everything figured out(mindless religious zealots). A truly gifted band with some incredible musicinship whose career was doomed by bad decision making in the business department. They did four studio albums on 4 different labels, all of which I believe went out of business. They are from San Diego area, but played very few gigs in the USA, mostly played in Europe. Metal Blade europe rereleased all their albums 2 years ago with bonus material for those having a hard time finding their albums. Great album artwork by Mike Clift and Travis Smith.