Lynch Mob – Smoke And Mirrors
LYNCH MOB
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Released on September 18, 2009 (Frontiers Records)
Track List:
01. 21st Century Man
02. Smoke & Mirrors
03. Lucky Man
04. My Kind Of Healer
05. Time Keepers
06. Revolution Hero
07. Let The Music Be Your Master
08. The Fascist
09. Where Do You Sleep At Night?
10. Madly Backwards
11. We Will Remain
12. Before I Close My Eyes
13. Mansions In The Sky
Band Members:
Oni Logan – vocals
George Lynch – guitar
Marco Mendoza – bass and vocals
Scot Coogan – drums and vocals
Production:
Produced by Lynch Mob, Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen.
Review:
Seeing as every other band with ties to the 80s hard rock scene have resurfaced, why not Lynch Mob? Of course Lynch Mob have returned several times over the years, but this is the first re-teaming of George Lynch and original vocalist Oni Logan. This pair only managed to release 1990’s Wicked Sensation before going their separate ways, so I was curious to see if they could recapture the magic of that one legendary album.
Does Smoke And Mirrors capture the magic of years past? The answer to that question is – sometimes. Logan still has the voice of yesteryear and Lynch himself hasn’t sounded this energetic in ages. It occasionally makes for perfection, but once in awhile the pair do lose their focus. When this duo is on top of their game they have always managed to deliver somewhat haunting melodic rock. It’s not the pop-metal of Dokken, but a darker and more ominous feel, and the type of sound that Lynch Mob has (for the most part) re-created on Smoke And Mirrors.
With the opening “21st Century Man” you know right away that the band hasn’t missed a beat. Things keep rolling with the title track, which is a slower bluesy Badlands type number that revs up during the chorus. But it is songs like “My Kind Of Heeler”, the rocking “We Will Remain” and “Where Do You Sleep At Night” that really recaptures the classic Lynch Mob sound and show that George Lynch still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
A few songs fail to deliver, but even the sub-standard tracks are almost saved by Logan‘s incredible pipes. He can wail with the best of them, and time hasn’t affected him at all. George Lynch says that Smoke And Mirrors “is the record we should have put out as a follow up to Wicked Sensation“, and as much as I like 1992’s self-titled album, I can’t argue with him. Logan just compliments Lynch‘s furious fretwork so well that it is a shame we had to wait so many years for these two to record together again. It has been a long wait, but this CD makes it all worthwhile.
www.myspace.com/lynchmobrocks – www.frontiers.it
Reviewed by Skid for Sleaze Roxx, December 2009.
Buy The CD:
Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at CDUniverse.com
Purchase at eBay.com
Purchase at iTunes.com