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The Grand Trick - 2005 - "The Decadent Session"

(50 min, Record Heaven & Transubstans)


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TRACK LIST:                             

1.  Never Felt So Good 5:57
2.  Without Anything Within 3:46
3.  Long Way From Home 5:42
4.  Late Morning Daze 7:09
5.  The Grand Trick 5:55
6.  The Follower 4:34
7.  Black Hills 4:54
8.  Rollercoaster Ride 4:49
9.  Dog On A Leash 7:35

All tracks: by The Grand Trick. 
Produced by The Grand Trick.

LINEUP:

Johan Dahnberg - Vocals
Michael Karlsson - guitar
Stefan Johansson - guitar
Jonas Malmqvist - bass
Daniel Larsson - drums
                        

Prolusion. Transubstans is a label devoted to cranking out bands that sound like they came from yesteryear. THE GRAND TRICK is another straight-ahead Rock band with virtually no progressive elements, though they are strongly influenced by bands of the '70s with progressive leanings, such as Deep Purple and Grand Funk. Unfortunately, The Grand Trick lacks the song writing skills of the bands in their musical ancestry.

Analysis. They weren't kidding with that title. The first song, Never Felt So Good is a rocker about a cheap one-night stand. Not much to tell, really. This is retro-rock, which would probably have not made a go of it in the day they reflect in their sound. The production values are pretty low. The sound is muddy, just rather dull pretty much throughout, an exception being The Follower, which has a cleaner sound, where the cymbal work comes through, though it is something of a moot point as the song is nothing special. Black Hills is another exception to the muddy rule, with a much clearer sound and a tasty bluesy beginning. It soon dissolves into another straight-ahead rocker, sounding pretty much like all the other songs on the album.

Conclusion. There is nothing prog about this album, unless you consider that they were influenced by some of the bands that incorporated progressive elements into their music 30 years ago. The most positive thing I can say about this album is that it reminds me of how good Machine Head sounded.

KW: October 29, 2005


Related Links:

Record Heaven Records


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