Mothership is a band from Dallas, Texas. They play pure, honest hard rock and heavy metal, completely drenched in the atmosphere of the seventies. I'm not sure if they named themselves after the Led Zeppelin's greatest hits compilation, but as a reference, Led Zeppelin certainly counts. Other names that come to mind here, include old Iron Maiden, UFO, Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. Not a bad list, right?
The album opens with the title track 'High Strangeness', which functions as an instrumental intro. Yet, personally, I wouldn't mind if Mothership threw some more of these tunes on the album. I dig, a lot. 'Ride The Gun' then comes up with the vintage, old school hard rock, which highlights in the brilliant following track 'Midnight Express'. Yeah, I know, not everything here is very original and it has all been done before but rarely this good.
Another song worth mentioning is 'Crown Of Lies', which seemingly blends Heart's 'Barracuda' with something that Alice In Chains could have written. This song rocks, and might be one of the most radio-friendly ones on this album. So yes, I think these guys have been listening to grunge, along with truckloads of traditional hard rock. On the other hand, perhaps this simply is what vintage hard rock sounds like when it's being played on today's high-end equipment, who knows.
All I know, is that this is once again an excellent album from Heavy Psych Sounds, one that definitely deserves a spot in your collection. If you are into bands like Duel, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Molly Hatchet or Kadavar, you do have to check this out. People who say that they don't make rock music like they used to, should really start opening their eyes, ears and hearts to the new crop. They DO make music like they used to...
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