This is truly a schizophrenic album, with some real highlights and some
out-and-out disasters, but the bulk of it is yet another example of a
bay-area thrash legend tarnishing their legacy by taking a shot at a
more
commercial sound. In some well-known cases, that resulted in
superstardom: for Exodus, it resulted in this being their last studio
album -- at least until a surprise comeback over a decade later.
Most of the songs are decent power metal, but are simply not the thrash
that Exodus fans had come to expect. In fact, there are a lot of
places
where I simply can’t get southern rockers Jackyl out of my head as I
listen...
Of the "power metal" tracks, "Thorn in My Side" and "Good Day
To
Die" stand out, the former sounding a bit like it came from Metallica’s
black album.
Now for the bad news. There are two cover songs, and... all one can
think
of is "What were they thinking?" The Elvis Costello cover, "Pump It
Up"
is merely bad; the Rolling Stones cover, "Bitch," is positively
dreadful.
A horn section on an Exodus song? Surely the end of the world can’t
be
far behind... and the vocal chorus near the end is downright painful.
But the news is not all bad, thankfully. "Me, Myself & I" has a thrashy edge,
sounding a bit like Seasons-era Slayer, while "When It Rains, It Pours"
is
an upbeat, lighthearted thrasher that brings Anthrax to mind. It has a
positively ripping solo that’s a real highlight. And perched in the
middle of this odd mix is one true gem -- "Architect of Pain" is eleven
minutes of pure evil about the Marquis de Sade. Picture a thrashed-up,
Slayer-reminiscent version of a Maiden historical epic, and you begin
to
get the picture. That track alone saves this album from the sludge
heap,
but ultimately the lows are much more numerous than the highs.
TRACK LIST:
1. Thorn in My Side
2. Me, Myself, and I
3. Force of Habit
4. Bitch
5. Fuel For the Fire
6. One Foot in the Grave
7. Count Your Blessings
8. Climb Before the Fall
9. Architect of Pain
10. When it Rains it Pours
11. Good Day to Die
12. Pump it Up
13. Feeding Time at the Zoo