Search - Speedealer :: Bleed

Speedealer continues to rock

anarce | Carrollton, TX United States | 10/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"At first listen I was a little surprised by this album, but it grew on me quickly. After reading how they'd gone back and recorded the album in 2 days like their old albums, I thought they would probably return to their old speed-riffing sound and abandon the "old Metallica" flavor that Jason Newsted seemed to have added to Second Sight. To an extent, they have recaptured that old fast and furious feel of their earlier songs, but without forgetting some of the new territory that they had charted on Second Sight. This album is the perfect mix of old and new Speedealer.Bleed is sort of a fusion of the music from Here Comes Death with the insightful lyrics of Second Sight. The speedy riffs and catchy hooks are back, but there's a depth to the lyrics that was sometimes lacking in the old material. (although I have as much fun screaming "Yeah! Pigf***er!" as the next guy, and there are some fun songs on this album too - check out The Inventor of Evil)A few of the songs on Bleed, such as On My Way, have some classic rock influence to them, like a Led Zeppelin vibe, and it really works well. Occassionally the guys actually let a guitar chord ring for a few seconds rather than frantically hammering away at the strings, and it works. Actually, if you listen to the last song on the album, Come On And Kill Me, at the 4:00 mark the song changes up and it really reminds me of Rock Candy by Montrose, both the guitar part and the voice.That's not to say that Speedealer has gone soft by any means. Like all their albums, Bleed starts out with a blistering first song, Rock and Roll, and there are plenty of speedy punk-influenced songs in here. Any old fans that might have been turned off by the new direction of Second Sight will probably be glad to hear that Speedealer can still rock like they used to.My only complaint about this album would be that the sound quality is not perfect. I love the fact that they recorded the songs "live" in single takes and didn't try to make every note perfect because they captured their live feel really well. At the same time, I think that it could've been mixed and recorded a little better so that it sounded a little more balanced. Sometimes Harden's drums get lost in the mix and the bass can be hard to pick out. That's just a minor complaint though, and the songs still sound great when you hear them live. And that is still the best way to hear Speedealer!"