published: 20 /
8 /
2006
Label:
Select Label
Format: CD
Likeable second album from Queen-based quartet Brought Low, who owe a large debt to both Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rolling Stones
Review
That’s ‘Brought Low’, pronounced ‘Brott Loe’ – the Queens-based quartet owe a large debt to Lynyrd Skynyrd on ‘Right On Time’, their second album.
The Rolling Stones also loom large over the proceedings. The acoustic intro to ‘A Better Life’ smacks of the Stones' ‘Exile’ years (the thundering chords that follow could find a home on any number of AC/DC albums) while the seedy storyline of ‘Hail Mary’ (a tribute to a stripper) is reinforced with ‘Sticky Finger’-style sonics, including some roadhouse piano.
The band has all the necessary attributes: Singer Benjamin Howard Smith has a fine southern-style keening voice and the guitar skills to trade wicked solos and fills with second guitarist Kevin Eleven (both men pull double duty on rhythm and lead, with solos appropriately credited in the liner notes). The album also features some appropriately Muscle Shoals-influenced harp and organ. There are no weak spots in the album’s 10 songs, the last of which is the organ-limned rave up ‘There’s A Light’.
The band isn’t just aping Southern Rock grandees like Skynyrd: ‘Vernon Jackson’ is a ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ style tribute to the insalubrious neighbourhood they call home.
Anyone who likes their rock heavy and with a side plate of grits should definitely grab ‘Right On Time’.
Track Listing:-
1
A Better Life
2
Hail Mary
3
This Ain't No Game
4
Tell Me
5
Dear Ohio
6
Throne
7
Vernon Jackson
8
Shakedown
9
Blues For Cubby
10
There's A Light