For the last few months, the Internet has been abuzz about the new Winery Dogs album.
They were said to be the new Super All Star group featuring Mike Portnoy on drums, Billie Sheen on bass, and Richie Kotzen on guitar and lead vocals.
According to some articles and reviews, this was going to finally be a Super All Star group that was finally good! Many said it was the CD of the year and that they could not quit listening to it.
I have to say, I bought into the hype.
I could not wait for the release day! Now that I have the CD, I feel disappointed.
I don't know if it was that I just had such high expectations or what, but I have to really force myself to listen to it.
Even after listening to it several times, I still do not really enjoy it.
Mike Portnoy is really the reason I bought the CD.
I didn't even know who the other two guys were, but I have been following Portnoy for years.
Some of my favorite albums have been the Dream Theatre and Neal Morse albums that he was playing drums on.
All of those albums were very technical and complex, but it somehow seemed to fit the sound of the album.
On the Winery Dogs album, however, the complex, technical stuff tends to be overdone.
The overly technical stuff just doesn't seem to feel right on some of these songs.
That goes for both Portnoy's drumming and Sheen's bass work.
I believe the concept of less is more might have worked well on this album.
There are times even, when they seem to be competing with each other for the listener's attention.
Other albums I have heard Portnoy on have had their heavier and darker moments.
This heaviness and dark sound, though, has always been contrasted by other lighter, whimsical moments.
The Winery Dogs album doesn't do this.
Instead all of the songs, with the exception of "Not Hopeless," seem dark and melodramatic.
I also want to take a moment to mention Mike Kotzen's vocals.
He has a very similar sound to Sammy Hagar.
At times I even hear a little Cee Lo Green.
Not to criticize him too much, but a big majority of what he sings sounds similar from song to song.
It's nothing really new.
It felt as if I was listening to the first Chickenfoot album.
As for the sound itself, on the first song, "Elevate," I notice my hand reaching for the volume knob on the choruses.
I am a strong believer in choruses being exciting and having a slight volume push, but in "Elevate," it doesn't.
The verse is big and heavy but the chorus is tiny and thin sounding.
Just adding an extra db or two on the chorus' during the mixing or mastering would have helped this song tremendously.
It's the first song on the CD; it should knock your socks off, not make you reach for the volume knob to turn it up and back down at every chorus.
I believe I turned the volume up on my radio for all three choruses.
At times, I believe some instruments are overbearingly loud.
This happens on a lot of the fills between the drums and bass.
Some of these big, complex drum fills would work so much better sitting a little bit farther back in the mix.
This is strange for me because I usually prefer the drums up front, knocking the listeners socks off.
For this album, though, I believe they would have helped the overall sound by making them softer at times.
In conclusion, I had very high expectations for this album but was very disappointed after hearing it.
If, however, you are a fan of any of these three musicians, then grab it and make your own opinion.
If you enjoy Chickenfoot or Them Crooked Vultures, then you also may enjoy The Winery Dogs album.