Search - The Radiators :: The Lost Southlake Sessions

Excellent

Charles G. Calderbank | Sandy Hook, CT | 05/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know te history behind it etc. But this one sweet sounding discs.'If you like the Radz no worries it's top shelf.

If you don't know the radz, it's no worries. Very smooth sound, great textures and enemble playing."

The Lost Southlake Sessions

The Captain | Bridgewater, MA | 07/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Anytime you can score a little piece of music that some people have never been privy to is a good daty in my book. Sometimes music fans look to bootlegs of live shows to fill that void that is sometimes left when you only listen to studio albums since there is that "something-out-of-the-ordinary" appeal that is so often desired to bring music to the next level. What could become mundane is sometimes livened up a bit when we listen to music that others might not have heard, music that might be a bit out of the mainstream or music that perhaps is new and fresh and simply has never been heard before.



The Radiators have provided music lovers with a little slice into a musical world of the band that has not been previously exposed. A rather different and unique concept, on their album The Lost Southlake Sessions, The Radiators have released a dynamic album that includes songs that have never been heard before on any other album of The Radiators. In addition to these new tracks, there is also a grouping of songs by the band that are in fact on other albums but appear on this album in their purest and most original versions.



The Radiators is comprised of Ed Volker (keyboards/vocals), Dave Malone (guitar/vocals), Reggie Scanlan (bass), Camile Baudoin (guitar/backup vocals) and Frank Bua, Jr. (percussion).



The New Orleans based rock band wastes no time bringing the listener into the music of the band present on the album with the introductory track Have a Little Mercy. There is a nice symbiotic sound that is built between the instrumental music on the track and the vocals and the rock music has a little Southern blues twang kicked in. The vocals on this track are paced a bit slower to give a greater emphasis to them and the guitar is allowed to run free later in the track and proves to be a great little guitar solo present so early in the album. The track serves as a barometer to show that good things are sure to come with the rest of the album.



Blowin' Smoke is another excellent track on this album and like Have a Little Mercy takes what might be considered traditional rock sounds and infuses them this time with an almost high paced jazz sound. The pace on this track picks up quite a bit and the drums hold the music of the track nicely as they really are demonstrated well on the track. There is bit of repetition on this track in terms of both the lyrics and the instrumentation however it works quite well here and the overall quality of the track is certainly not affected.



The band mixes it up a bit on the track Soul Deep since on this track they work in a greater piano presence on the track. The piano walks the listener into the track and then there is a piano sound that pairs itself to the rest of the music throughout the balance of the rest of the track. Though sometimes with music of the style and sound of The Radiators it might be difficult to work in a piano into the music and avoid it sounding forced, The Radiators do an excellent job highlighting the piano sound on this track and it really works. The rest of the instrumentation varies slightly throughout this track and at times picks up a bit more gusto than we have heard the rest of the album, but the matched quality of the overall instrumental performance on this track make it a real winner. The vocals are also nicely crafted to fit along with the music on this track and the overall product is a really dynamic sound.





Track listing:



1. Have a Little Mercy

2. Everything Gets in the Way

3. Solid Ground

4. Devil's Dream

5. Blowin' Smoke

6. Fires of Love

7. Honey From the Bee

8. Love Ain't Love

9. Soul Deep

10. Hurtin' For It

11. Good as Gone

12. Freeway

13. River Run

14. I Want to Go Where the Green Arrow Goes



The Radiators are certainly seasoned professionals when it comes to performing music that is uniquely their own. With more live performances under their belt than many bands could ever dream of and with some truly remarkable albums with their name on the front, The Radiators probably need not ever do another thing musically and would still be considered an amazing rock band. However, thankfully for all of us, they want to keep pumping out quality music and strive to provide listeners with nothing short of high quality music.



With their release of The Lost Southlake Sessions, the band has given their listeners some of what they already know, some new stuff that confirms what we know about the band and an impression that The Radiators mean business when it comes to calling their own music nothing short of brilliant. And for that, we are all the better off.



The Lost Southlake Sessions is on the Radz Records label and was recorded at Southlake Studios.



For more information about The Radiators, check out their website at [...].





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