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May 17, 2012 |
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01. Toss It On The Flame
02. Back In The Day
03. The Suspense Is Killing Me
04. From The Backseat
05. Don't Look Down
06. Something She Said
07. Dreams Of Discontent
08. Dig A Hole
09. Taj
10. The Lift
11. A Tower In The Sky
12. Long Walk Home
13. Indisputable Truth
14. Hope
15. A Million Tears Ago
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Now I'm mad! I always knew Billy Sheehan was an amazing bassist and songwriter, but nobody ever told me he could play guitar or sing the way he does! Where did this voice come from?? And why has it been hidden all this time?? I honestly think Billy missed his calling by being in bands all these years - the man was meant to be front and center! Okay, that might be a slight overstatement as his bass work with TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH, and MR. BIG has always been considered revolutionary. There's a reason why the man has won just about every bass award there is. But on "Cosmic Troubadour", Sheehan proves to the world that he is much more than merely a 4-string genius.
This album smokes from beginning to end as Sheehan and drummer Ray Luzier (who are joined by Simone Sello adding some extra guitars and some programming for atmosphere) give a master class on musical wizardry. But make no mistake about it - this album is The Billy Sheehan Show. It goes without saying that the bass work is stellar. When he was born, the Music Gods looked down at him and said, "This one shall play bass." - and throughout the disc, he proves that those Gods made the right decision. What really surprises me though is his voice! Sounding a little like KING'S X vocalist Doug Pinnick, Sheehan delivers a solid, passionate performance on the six vocal tracks that any vocalist out there would be proud to call their own. This guy is 100% musician through and through.
Track 2, "Back In The Day", is the song that really strikes an emotional chord with me. Now, I don't know what Sheehan intended the song to be about, but for me, it's all about the good ol' days in the 80's when my friends and I were all rockers and would attend all of the rock concerts that came to town. Man, those were good days! It was an event for us. We would all be in jean jackets, wearing concert t-shirts, owning the world, and watching our heroes. But, as time went by, some got married, some had children, whatever...we all kind of lost track of each other. The lyrics in the song - "A common ground, a loyalty, The way we were meant to be. You had my back, I had yours", seems to echo the relationship I had with my pals back in the day. Good times indeed.
"The Suspense Is Killing Me" has been named perfectly as the first instrumental song on the disc seems to be building up to something, but you don't know what. Sheehan's fluid bass style takes over from the get-go. The song is a great bridge that leads to "From The Backseat", another tune featuring Sheehan's fine vocals. "Don't Look Down" is a chugging, rhythmic instrumental while "Something She Said" takes on a harder edge. There are some cool vocals here and some great drumming from Luzier. Talent finds talent. "Dreams Of Discontent" is a little more atmospheric (I hesitate to say almost techno), but the song is really cool and shows another side of this talented musician. "The Lift" has a little more guitar than the other tunes on the disc, but the bass is still in charge. I really like the lyrics as well.
It's interesting that I'm really digging the lyrics when I always thought of Billy Sheehan as just a bassist, and not lyricist. These are not your average rock lyrics either. They are intelligent and thought provoking, and it's quite obvious a lot of care and attention went into the writing. "A Tower In The Sky" is kind of a groovy, atmospheric piece with moments of pure flash mixed into the background. Trust me, you'll know what I'm talking about when those moments hit. "Long Walk Home" takes on a bit of a jazzy feel with a little bit of blues bass thrown in just for good measure, and "Indisputable Truth" is a wild, pyrotechnical bass workout. The man can do it all!
"Hope" would have been the PERFECT song to end the disc with the way it winds down to it's natural conclusion, however a bonus track entitled "A Million Tears Ago" is the last one. But as "Hope" was coming to an end, all I could think of is, "If they ended it here, and didn't add the bonus song, it would have been a brilliant ending".
"Cosmic Troubadour" is one of those wonderful gems that makes being a music fan so great! I would love to write more about this disc, but I've got to run. The album is about to start playing over again and I don't wanna miss any of it. Go out and buy this album!
Hey Billy - exceptional job!
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