That riff mongering, Aussie classic rock behemoth that is Electric Mary are back, 8 long years after their last album release! Much has changed in the musical landscape during that time both here in Australia and abroad and band members have come and gone, but one thing thankfully has not changed…the sound of Electric Mary is still as monstrous as ever.
For those of you new to Electric Mary, this is no new band riding on the wave of the recent resurgence on classic rock, the bands debut album Four Hands High dates back to 2004. Over the years that followed three albums, EP’s, a live DVD and support slots with Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, and Def Leppard, the very bands that form part of the bands DNA, saw them conquering crowds around Australia, USA, England, France, Spain and Japan. Forget the little shiny discs or digital tracks that contain the bands music, the true Mary experience is seeing them live. Believe me, I’ve seen them many a’time.
Band member departures and illness saw the last few years pass on by, but fear not, 2019 marks the return of this mighty band with new album Mother. First single Woman will have you thinking that Electric Mary have never been away, it picks right off at the likes of earlier Mary tracks such as Let Me Out and Gasoline & Guns. A stomping riff, those distinctive Rusty Brown vocals that just bleed ROCK, a refrain that will be like a beating in your brain and then throw in a scorching guitar solo. If Woman doesn’t get you hanging for the rest of the album, then I don’t know what will?
Gimme Love opening up the album bleeds 70’s styled classic rock, has a stop start riff and throws in the hint of a psychedelic interlude half way into it’s three minutes, before closing out with some tasty soloing courtesy of longtime guitarist Pete Robinson. Hold Onto What You Got amps up the melody in the chorus, giving this one more of a Bad Company meets Free feel, which along with It’s Alright and The Way You Make Me Feel sees the band pushing the boundaries of their sound just that little bit further into the family tree of classic rock by dialling in that something extra.
If you loved the bands debut album Four Hand High as much as I do, then Sorry Baby and Long Long Day will be right up your alley. Two of the longer tracks on the album clocking in over 6 minutes each, these slow burners dial back the intensity and bombast of the rest of the album, but this just serves to further showcase the sheer quality of the bands songwriting and musicianship. Clocking in at 8 tracks, the different dynamics in song style and sounds create a light and shade and listening experience that really does hark back to days when albums ruled the world.
2019 has the feeling of being a big year for us lovers of classic rock music, with a bit of a renewed buzz around the traps with the likes of Rival Sons, Greta Van Fleet, The Temperance Movement and locally, Palace Of The King all having new albums already out, or on the way. Make no mistake, once this album is out and stages around the world are once again conquered, Electric Mary will re-affirm their place in that rock brigade delivering rock ‘n’ roll the way that it used to taste…and doesn’t Electric Mary taste good!
Mother – I have no hesitation in saying this is Electric Mary’s best album yet!
TRACKLIST
Gimme Love
Hold Onto What You Got
How Do You Do It
Sorry Baby
The Way You Make Me Feel
It’s Alright
Long Long Day
Woman
