Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Nugent, Ted
Label: Frontiers Records
Released: 2013
Running time: 116:14
Rating: 3.5/5
Ted Nugent is an »animal«. The legendary »Republican brute« nicknamed »Motor City Mad Man« criss-crossed the entire homeland he’s so proud of on his 2011 tour, called the »I Still Believe Tour«, and he teases us so effectively with that pride of his whenever the talk turns to his carefully planted provocative statements. The whole point of this Nugent circus act, cooked up by a guy with a big mouth, is of course to keep the door to constant presence in the leading American media wide open. Yep. It reads as pathetic. Even pitiful. Very pathetic once you combine that with the axiom: »Let the music speak for itself and nothing else!« Good old windbag Ted, who hasn’t released a new studio album since 2007. So we can say that creatively he’s dried up like the whole expanse of the Sahara, or the surface of Mars.
Ted, a modern-day nomad you could say, is known for his exceptional live spectacles. The man delivers the maximum. The energy flux is incredible, and live releases from Ted Nugent, whether official or bootleg, are hardly a rarity. They’re always relevant.
Even though Nugent has been »dry as a bone« creatively for the past six years, his catalog counts almost as many live releases as studio ones (the latter a constant since 1975), and that’s without even counting the assorted legally and/or illegally released »best of« compilations. »Live Ballisticrock« is also exactly what you expect from Nugent when the man steps up to the front of the stage. The complete, bestially rampaging presence of a stripped-down hunk of timber through the very essence of rock ‘n’ roll! Unique, of course. »Served with smoked ham and fried eggs,« as it were. A cowboy with a ranch! Straight to the heart of it! Nugent crossed all the basic ingredients of rock ‘n’ roll with a coat of blues and, throughout his creative career, put out an incredible voltage output of high-impact power blues rock, which roughly defines his musical expression.
So don’t go looking for any heavy philosophy here. But one thing is clear: this kind of music works best live, and when it’s performed live it leaves the biggest effect on the listener, when we talk about how tangible its expressive content is. You could say that Nugent, even in his ("Ohoho!") 40th year in music, leaves his soul on the stage. There’s no doubt about that when you hit the content of this new live album either. The compositions are packed with long jam sections, with Nugent front and center, of course, with his inexhaustible guitar shenanigans. His guitar is once again relentlessly roaring, and alongside Nugent’s rough, piercing vocal character, in places downright screechy, the live document achieves a new, effectively executed sonic payoff. Add just a tight rhythm section and at most one rhythm guitar to reinforce the guitar phrases, and that’s it.
Nugent is backed on stage by an excellent crew, made up of his legendary buddy from the seventies Derek St. Homes (guitar, vocals), plus Dokken drummer Mick Brown and former Rainbow bassist Greg Smith. Nugent strolls through the catalog of his best-known classic songs and albums, the ones that carved him into the rock ‘n’ roll map in big letters back in the seventies, forever. Nugent remains what he always wanted to be. Or at least what he wanted to be remembered as for all eternity. A talented musical »madman«. Of unique proportions! So this is a double live document that fans of his music will snatch up in a heartbeat. It’s an experience where all the forces of hell break loose from their chains and any holding back or fussing is forbidden. Pure wrecking-ball rock debauchery. With top-notch execution, Nugent stays a thoroughly credible musical hellion in his trademark stage excess.
Those of you rock fans who’ve developed a higher level of mindfulness and sharpened your ear for sonic fine-tuning over the years of listening will hit a tough nut this time too. Nugent’s ego is unyielding, and his shouts between the jams, and the yelling, come across as downright distracting and intrusive. You have to be ready for that and accept it, otherwise this album is very hard to listen to. Because it’s precisely those constant Nugent shouts that literally drown out the guitar phrases. That’s just the price. But with Nugent, the »Detroit rock ‘n’ roll dynamite«, that’s long since stopped being news.
Lineup
Ted Nugent – guitar, vocals
Derek St.Holmes – guitar, vocals, backing vocals
Greg Smith – bass guitar
Mick Brown – drums
Tracklist
CD1.:
1. Free For All
2. Stormtroopin’
3. Wango Tango
4. Just What the Doctor Ordered
5. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
6. Need You Bad
7. Turn It Up
8. Raw Dogs & War Hogs
9. Dog Eat Dog
CD2.:
1. Hey Baby
2. Fred Bear
3. I Still Believe*
4. Motorcity Madhouse
5. Cat Scratch Fever
6. Stranglehold
7. Great White Buffalo
