Artist: Pride Tiger
Label: EMI Records
Release: 2007
Runtime: 43.00
Rating: 2/5
Pride Tiger are the great hopes of Canadian hard rock schooling, leaning on a simple formula, the rattling single-beat machinery of generic rock & roll. Unfortunately, thanks to way too blatant sympathizing with the musical blueprints of the past, that machinery all too often reeks of something like holiday-camp enthusiasm for heavy rock music. Pride Tiger’s problem also lies in an obsessive worship of Thin Lizzy iconography, which shamelessly overshadows what little innovative fun there is to be had on The Lucky Ones.
The Lucky Ones proves that Pride Tiger are first and foremost seriously problematic Thin Lizzy junkies. Originality, then, isn’t exactly something the guys can bank on, even though the self-assured posture of the foursome over a good three quarters of an hour of triple-guitar assault gives no hint whatsoever of being weighed down by that issue. The tight guitar charges of axemen Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese come across like rote-learned run-ins of the Robertson/Gorham duo, but without any of their punch, sensuality or infectiousness. An identity crisis is surely an awkward thing, and here it shamelessly eats away at the orphaned vocal delivery of Matt Wood too, the guy who at the same time supplies Pride Tiger with an utterly distracting syncopated rhythmic backbone. Matt isn’t much of a vocalist, but hey, neither was his great idol Phil Lynott, which doesn’t change the fact that an unbridgeable chasm separates the two. Sure, Lynott was a one-of-a-kind figure, a first-rate frontman whose simple, direct lyrical approach drew on working-class mentality and cultural background. Matt’s voice lacks exactly that, the raw vagabond charm that might have won over at least those listeners not weighed down by the Thin Lizzy legacy.
The Lucky Ones has a few moments of its own too, or at least brief flashes that hint at the band’s well-camouflaged potential, only to sail right past the senses of the average listener. Tracks like opener Let’em Go or The White Witch Woman Blues, with their chunky riffs and well-oiled rhythmic wheels that aim bloodied fists shamelessly in the direction of the groin, point to where Pride Tiger would do well to head in the future. It’s Only You also promises plenty of primal excitement, and certainly far more than the useless instrumentals A Long Way Down and Wizard’s Council, whose point stays elusive to common sense even after repeated listens.
With the tedious puzzle pieces No One’s Listening and Sweet Dreams dominating most of the album in the dry role of vaguely conceived Lizzy covers, turning toward a more innovative and individual development seems downright necessary for the band, at least if the guys want their act to meet with more positive reactions in the future! Otherwise it could easily happen that Pride Tiger’s life as a first-rate rock attraction won’t go according to plan. In that scenario, the guys could ultimately swap the battle colors of up-and-coming rockers for the tricolor of some commendable “tribute to” outfit. The only question left is: whose?
Lineup
Matt Wood: vocals, drums
Sunny Dhak: guitar
Bob Froese: guitar, backing vocals
Aaron McHattie: bass, backing vocals
Production
Pride Tiger
Tracklist
1. Let’em Go
2. What It Is
3. Fill Me In
4. A Long Way Down
5. The White Witch Woman Blues
6. The Lucky Ones
7. It’s Only You
8. No Ones Listening
9. Sweet Dreams
10.Wizard’s Council
11. Forget Everything
12. A New Jones
13. 56 Days
