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"This "Little Brother Is Watching" shows a different face of Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, much less crazy but still irresistible."
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4/5
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If the seven years that separate "Abnormal" from "Little Brother Is Watching" seemed like an eternity, the time must not have been lived by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal in the same way. Since the release of the Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" in 2008 and the concerts that followed, Ron has been busy with various participations, productions ("Guitars That Ate My Brain"), writing original songs and covers for him and other artists (Alexa Vetere and Poc). He has also recently put together the band Art Of Anarchy. For his eighth album (not counting the B-sides and the acoustic cover album "Barefoot"), Ron is once again very inspired by the world around him.
In eleven immediately heady songs with irresistible melodies, Ron tackles many subjects with a more serious approach than usual. The 2015 vintage takes us on a journey through the throes of illness, with a punkish 'Clots' that joins up with 'Abnormal', and the original 'Women Rule The World', which deals with a certain idea of feminism, through faith (the 'Don't Know Who To Pray To Anymore' complex, reminiscent of the darkness of Ron's first two albums) and the generalised surveillance in our society. This theme, which refers to 1984, the major work of Georges Orwell, gives its title to the album and to the track that deals with the issue with common sense and lucidity.
Even if "Little Brother Is Watching" is not as experimental and avant-garde as "Uncool", the classic verse-chorus frame is often overtaken by what Ron himself calls his touch of eccentricity. This is particularly audible in the carnivalesque 'Cuterebra', which deciphers the process of rumour in a retro version full of rhythmic and guitaristic variety, as well as in the Gilbert-like riff 'Women Rule The World'. The old American's old reflexes come to the fore when it comes to adding a lot of sound effects to the songs (door creaking and foot banging in 'Little Brother Is Watching') and other deliriums, of which his guitar is the first contributor (the fretless and chorus-tapping of 'Women Rule The World').
The rendering of 'Little Brother Is Watching' is a reflection of the craftsmanship and meticulous work in the personal studio of the mad genius. Raw on the whole, with dry tones, economy in effects, and some arrangements ('Argentina' and 'Eternity'), the record finds its depths in the mastery of the numerous choruses ('Clots', part of which is recorded among the audience of one of Ron's performances) and in the varied use of acoustic flourishes (the cello of 'Higher'). The terrain is ideal for Bumblefoot who knows, by his melodies and vocal harmonies, how to bring a dense emotion especially when the cadences slow down ('Eternity', 'Livin' The Dream' and 'Argentina').
In "Little Brother Is Watching", you won't find any zany interlude, burlesque text nor virtuoso instrumental, but compositions more solid in construction, melodies and longer than usual, in which the velocity of the musician is limited to the strict realms of the solos. This new album shows a different face of Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, much less crazy but still irresistible. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Clots 02. Little Brother Is Watching 03. Argentina 04. Don't Know Who To Pray To Anymore 05. Livin' The Dream 06. Cuterebra 07. Higher 08. Women Rule The World 09. Sleepwalking 10. Eternity 11. Never Again
LINEUP:
Ron Thal: Chant / Guitares / Basse / Claviers Dennis Leeflang: Batterie
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5/5 (1 view(s))
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