TRUE WARS ARE NEVER WON

This is the twelfth Mutiny in Jonestown album and to be honest, I've never been happy with it. The writing, performance and recording were all first rate. Problem was I'd just got a new electronic drum kit before the project and made a poor choice in defining the all important snare drum sound. On it's own, it sounded like a very Bruford-ish snare (high pitched, with a fast attack and fast decay). Unfortunately, surrounded by other instruments the snare sounded less like a snappy Bruford snare circa 1973 and more like a cross between a rim shot and a metronome click. This problem wasn't really discovered until the album was complete and orders already shipped. Oh well, too late!

Another issue is the song selection. Originally the album was written to be performed live and recorded at a one-off show. I like to throw some cover tunes among the originals for live shows as it helps draw in those unfamiliar with Mutiny in Jonestown. This one had an interesting collection of covers, "Salad Days" from Procol Harum, "Wide Awake" from The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton's solo album, "Cadence and Cascade" from King Crimson and finally "TV Party" from Black Flag. As the project wore on, it was clear for a multitude of reasons that original plan wasn't going to happen and this would become a studio album.

I was left with a well written and recorded studio album, but with a snare sound I hated and a lot of cover tunes which meant I couldn't make the album available for download/listen. I didn't even include any of these songs to the compilation albums (which really gives an idea of what I think about this album). Oh well, for those reasons this one only get's 2 stars.