Go to:
- Psalm 9 (1984)
- The Skull (1985)
- Run to the Light (1987)
- Trouble (1990)
- Manic Frustration (1992)
- One for the Road EP (1994)
Psalm 9 (1984)
7
The Tempter / Assassin / Victim of the Insane / Revelation (Life or Death) / Bastards Will Pay / The Fall of Lucifer / Endtime / Psalm 9
(On
the twofer edition of Psalm 9 / The Skull that I used, one song from
each album has been deleted by Metal Blade : a cover of Cream's "Tales of
Brave Ulysses, which originally ended the debut, and "The Truth Is, What Is"
from the second album)
Never opting to do things the easiest way, Trouble were one of the few bands that kept the flame of Sabbath's ultra-crunch doom alive while other bands were surfing the New Wave of British Heavy Metal or exploring the extreme outer fringes of early thrash/death metal. Actually, Trouble weren't the only band to indulge in the monolithic bludgeoning of early Sabbath (and they did change gears, too), as bands like Saint Vitus were doing similar things for equally limited audiences. Like that band, Trouble was formed in the late 70s, but didn't get around to releasing a debut album before 1984, a moment in time when a credible metal fanatic could only get away with power metal or the exciting new bands that were rearing their ugly heads (Metallica, Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, etc). Even though the band never made it big - thought it almost seem it would happen around 1990, when the band was picked up by professional career revitalizer Rick Rubin - they're nowadays considered a quintessential band in the evolution of doom metal (along with Sabbath, Pentagram, Saint Vitus and perhaps The Obsessed), paving the way for the doom resurgence of the 90s and putting stoner rock on track as well. Dave Grohl even invited Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner to join him during the recordings of the Probot-project, along with other cult heroes Cronos (Venom) and Scott "Wino" Weinrich (Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand). That must imply something, right? Anyway, on to the band's debut album, originally title-less, but afterwards christened "Psalm 9." It'll only take you a short while before you'll notice that they weren't only stylistically out of step with their contemporaries, as all the songs on the album contain a rigidly Christian perspective on man, God and the ruler of hell. "The Tempter," which has a nifty balance of slow, ominous grooves and up-tempo passages that are ready-made to bang your head to, explicitly warns for the tricks of the bringer of evil ("The Tempter, he taketh your brain"). Likewise, "Revelation (Life or Death)" addresses Satan's deceiving nature and "The Fall of Lucifer" promises good ole' Beelzebub will get what he deserves ("With all thy followers of sin, you shall die in flames of the fire"). This sounds a bit tacky, but it's actually not much of a burden on your listening pleasure and hey, there's also the less explicit material like "Assassin" (which they perhaps chose because… you know… AssasSIN… right?), a treatise on taking lives during which the band comes pretty close to Judas Priest's late 70's sound. With that band (and Iron Maiden), the band also has the twin solo-attack in common, as lumbering sections are usually enlightened with more melodic ones and solos that are accessible enough to please the average catchy hard rock fan. At this point, Wagner's vocals are often a bit ragged, like a hoarse Halford, but they do the job, while the axe-team of Bruce Franklin and Frank Wartell keeps things pretty interesting throughout the album, with foreboding crush and some lyrical finesse. There are no immediate stand-outs on the album, nothing that'll immediately strike you as a true metal classic (fortunately, there's also nothing as stupid as the filler that marred almost all Sabbath albums, including the best ones), but most of the songs have their moments, whether it's the accelerating chug of "Revelation," the imposing thrash heaviness of "Bastards Will Pay," the ultra-doom vibe of Bible class exercise "Psalm 9" or the multi-parted opening track. Even though it sounds decidedly less massive than it must have at the time, it still works better than most metal albums of its era, while the marriage of Vol. 4-era Sabbath with some modern touches is, well… a fruitful one.
The Skull (1985)
7
Pray for the Dead / Fear No Evil / The Wish / Wickedness of Man / Gideon / The Skull
He
that seeks trouble never misses goes on old English proverb, and you might
apply that to Trouble as well, as they always managed to get away with something
that looked quite dubious on paper. What you get is an unapologetically Sabbath-worshipping
band, but doing so in the mid 80's, when countless metal bands and albums
were ruined by image, shitty production jobs and ripping off each other's
"peculiar" styles. There certainly is an unmistakeable 80's vibe to
their first few albums (especially production-wise), but they managed to avoid
the predictable narcissism and focus on the overly technical (i.e. directionless
wankery without soul) that plagued many of their brethren's efforts at the
time. This is not to say their songs aren't meticulously constructed - they
are - it's just that there's also some emotional power and a feeling of genuine
dedication there. The Skull's ambitiousness is not only noticeable
in the longer songs (3 songs approach the six minute-mark, one fearlessly
extends beyond eleven minutes), but also the slightly increased complexity
of some of the band's music. They haven't entered the realm of Fates Warning's
80's prog-metal yet, but the band repeatedly comes up with twists and turns
that disrupt the pure headbanging pleasure you might get from it. Terrific
album opener "Pray for the Dead," which starts off with a creepy fade-in (as
if it's rising up from the depths of hell, indeed) quite similar to Slayer's
"Hell Awaits," lays down a thunderous groove made even more effective by Wagner's
quavering and foreboding wailing. The verses are pretty straightforward, almost
evoking a battlefield with their slow, militaristic tightness, but then you
get to the chorus, which employs an entirely different, awkwardly disorienting
timing that at first leaves you surprised, but starts to make sense the second
time around. Halfway the song, the "classic" moment arrives, when Wagner goes
all preachy with a Doomsday message ("Poor souls wait for the Lord, paying
for sins which have not been paid in life") and paves the way for some excellent
muscular soloing. "Fear No Evil," the album's shortest, loudest and most brutal
track, is probably even better, working as a riff-fest that seems to hover
between power-metal and speed-metal, twisting and turning, shifting back and
forth while Wagner warns the listener for the presence of Lucifer's son among
us mere mortals. Splendid. There's basically nothing as memorable on the album
as these two songs, that serve as the best examples of Trouble's individual
take on a genre that's usually not handled with such creativity, capability
and sincerity. The chugging "Wickedness or Man" (with an overly long intro)
and the straightforward, galloping metal of the melodic "Gideon" are pretty
damn convincing, though. Unfortunately, the remaining two tracks are hardly
as successful, as the title track only becomes interesting towards the end,
when it finally starts dragging itself along. The lyrics are a nice touch
though, with the first half being Jesus' account of his final day, and the
second expressing the hope of a second coming of Christ. Epic monster "The
Wish" is probably the main "offender" here, mainly because of its length.
It has some nice parts and involves grand statements (faith in God as a means
to achieve inner peace and get rid of dark thoughts - suicide, etc), acoustic
interludes as well as semi-colossal plodding parts, yet the different aspects
don't seem to gel that successfully, presenting itself as a set of glued together
pieces instead of this one huge superhuman trip. Exactly because of this,
The Skull is both a more rewarding and a more frustrating album
than Psalm 9. Whereas the less successful experiments give you a taste
of something bigger (but only a taste), the album's best moments are proof
that they had it in them to become a truly classic metal band. Not just yet,
though.
Reader comments: Bryan Timmins: Trouble defined my mindset from
age 12-13, '84-'85. |
Run to the Light (1987)
5.5
The Misery Shows (Act I) / Thinking of the Past / On Borrowed Time / Run to the Light / Peace of Mind / Born in a Prison / Tuesday's Child / The Beginning
It
took Trouble two years to concoct an 8 song-album, but unfortunately their
first album of the post-Reign in Blood / Master of Puppets era wasn't
really a satisfying one, no matter how hard the new rhythm section (Ron Holzer
& Dennis Lesh) tried to make you forget the previous one. Run to the Light
sounds slightly less heavy and intricate than its predecessors, which makes
it a bit easier to get into the songs, but the problem is that the playing
is actually much better than the song-writing. Too many songs - certainly
on the album's second half - are either too bland/predictable or too preachy,
and with the addition of some "new" touches, that might come as a problem.
The first thing you'll hear when you put this album on, are keyboards. I'm
not talking about Hammond B-3 here, but those sci-fi ones you might remember
from Kraftwerk or Jean-Michel Jarré. Luckily, a guitar and organ soon come
in, leading the way too a crescendo that launches a sturdy hard-rock groove.
It's no until Wagner starts wailing (after 1:30), however, that the song really
gets going. Expanding on the message of previous songs "Bastards Will Pay,"
"Assassin" and "Wickedness of Man," Wagner finally arrives at the conclusion
that "the answer is love." Fine by me, but it makes me wonder why the liner
notes contain the following motto: WHEN YOU GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS, YOU
DIE. Isn't that, you know, a bit "final" and fatalistic? It reminds
me of the puzzling motto on New Hampshire license plates:
"Thinking of the Past" offers more funeral-sadness with remembrances of days gone by, the band employing a dose of melancholy and chugging riffs that come straight out of The Judas Priest Book of Heavy Metal, while the acceleration halfway the song would've made Iron Maiden's guitar tandem proud. The following "On Borrowed Time" starts overly pompous with this pseudo-graceful "singing guitar"-intro that even cops the melody from Orff's Carmina Burana. However, when they kick into that groove and Wagner screams "AM I GOING DOWN?", that is the album's only classic moment. To have made some serious impact, it should've been even heavier, with a low end that would upset your intestines, but okay, this is 1987 after all. About the only remaining song that gives as much satisfaction is the no-nonsense, in-your-face hard-rock of "Peace of Mind," which is a breath of fresh air if you're not that pleased with the band's occasional prog-leanings. With these songs, Trouble stayed on the quality level that they maintained throughout their first two albums, but regrettably the other half of the songs isn't as good. Sure, the intention is there and it's laudable that Wagner invites you to cross over to the side of salvation in the title track and even uses a Beatles-reference, but it doesn't prevent the fact that the song tries to be more theatrical and self-important than is necessary, just like the baroque closing track with its tombstone chants and fake medieval piano. Again, the playing is excellent, the band's dedication obvious (it's just too bad "Tuesday's Child" didn't include the "Hold on Eric, hold on"-line that's in the booklet), but apart from two or three exceptions, the songs don't work that well, try to work too well or resemble a quickly gathered collection of riffs that doesn't add up to, you know, a monster of a song. But, there's no need to panic just yet, as improvement was on its way. Run to the Rick, dudes!
Trouble (1990)
8.5
At the End of My Daze / The Wolf / Psychotic Reaction / A Sinner's Fame / The Misery Shows (Act II) / R.I.P. / Black Shapes of Doom / Heaven on My Mind / E.N.D. / All Is Forgiven
More
ambitious, but less pretentious than anything they'd yet done, Trouble's fourth
album is the one they were destined to make eventually. Gone are the obscure
elements, cheesy synths and occasional prog leanings of Run to the Light,
as is most of the band's fatalistic doom. "At the End of My Daze" contains
a monster riff Iommi (or any other metal guitarist) would/should be proud
of, and its thick sound immediately announces the band's more groove-oriented
hard rock direction. Oh, there's still plenty of crunch and headbangin' fun
(even more), but except for the heavy lumbering intro to "R.I.P.," this is
a band at work doing things tighter, catchier and more powerful than before.
When Rick Rubin stepped in to rescue the band and give them quite a career
boost (as he had done with Slayer and The Cult, too), he not only gave them
the bare-boned sonic attack they needed, but also showed the band how to make
their act more effective. By result, the songs have become more transparent
for the most part - not only because the melodies are uniformly stronger,
the riffs harder and the songs tighter, but also because the arrangements
themselves have become better. Earlier efforts too often contained ambitious
songs that collapsed under their own weight. On Trouble, also the band's
"grander" songs (not that there's many of them) make sense and manage to keep
your interest. Nowadays, there might be a few minor quibbles about the album's
sound (the vocals and drums are perhaps a bit too prominent), but the guitar
parts don't come much better, not because they found the perfect balance between
heaviness and crispiness, but also because the guitar team of Franklin and
Wartell reaches new artistic heights here: never were their guitar parts so
perfectly attuned to each other, and never before were their guitar solos
(especially during "A Sinner's Fame" and "All Is Forgiven") so well-constructed,
melodic and personal. Even though the band progressed as a whole, this is
above all the guitarists' album.
There's basically only one problem with this album and that's the fact that it somewhat loses its consistency towards the end. Blame the band for that, though, blame them for making the run of the first six songs a feast of undiluted, classic rock & roll. Like the opening "At the End of My Daze," songs like "Psychotic Reaction" and "R.I.P." are all about that holy ingredient of most hard rock / metal: the riff. These songs are short and concise, combining the bludgeoning Sabbath-inspired heaviness with a fresher and leaner attack, propelled by a well-oiled rhythm section and Wagner's Halford-Plant wailing which has gotten better than before. While he'd always been good at coming up with lines that sounded better than many of his contemporaries, this time he manages to give his lyrics constantly the right cadence, as if the flow coming from his mouth couldn't have been any different. Lyrically, his topics have also shifted somewhat. While he's still obsessed with a kind of vague, dark romanticism, an almost mystical play of light and darkness, hope and fatality, it's less based on a Christian creed. A song like "The Wolf" has lyrics that can only function in a metal-context (unless you're one of those people who think that putting cheerful, tip-toeing music to material like that is a good idea of "fun") and still refers to matters like sin/redemption, but it leaves God and his nemesis out of the picture. The song's also one of their best ones yet, with the standard metal fare (swift rhythms, fast vs. slow parts, solos, the works), but also an accessibility and grandeur that previously would've been a bit clumsy. Their three earlier albums would never have contained something like Trouble's centrepiece "The Misery Shows (Act II)," for instance. This seven minute exercise in grandness not only manages to incorporate their love for Led Zeppelin (the acoustic/electric approach, the folksy twist) and The Beatles (a simply melody and 60s-influenced harmonies), it's also one of the very few instances where a modern metal band gets away with this quiet vs. loud trick without sounding pathetic or pompous. Unfortunately, they don't manage to keep up this imposing quality throughout the entire album (that would've made it an undisputed rock classic): the Sabbath/Ozzy-references in "Heaven on My Mind" are obvious and album closer "All Is Forgiven" contains some stellar guitar playing, but they also are more standard fare than what came before. Also, "Black Shapes of Doom" doesn't flow as well as it should because of its awkward, out-of-place chorus, while the brief "E.N.D." (which stands for, uh, Eternal Narcotic Depression) seems to be included to show off some galloping guitar parts and nifty drum breaks. Still, the majority of the material on Trouble is of a stellar quality and easily on a par with what their heroes and main influence Black Sabbath came up with during their peak years, and this at least makes it a classic of the genre.
Manic Frustration (1992)
8
Come Touch the Sky / 'Scuse Me / The Sleeper / Fear / Rain / Tragedy Man / Memory's Garden / Manic Frustration / Hello Strawberry Skies / Mr. White / Breathe…
You
can only imagine what would've happened if Trouble hadn't reached its creative
peak around the emergence of a whole new paradigm called "grunge," a new era
that directed most metal bands to the "not cool"-section or had them
restyle themselves as likelier favorites. Their fifth album, Manic Frustration
basically continues the winning streak the band started with the self-titled
album, yet the direction's somewhat different. Even though the album contained
some led-heavy riffs, Trouble already had the band hovering away from
the nearly depressing doom of their earlier days, a direction which is continued
on Manic Frustration. Even catchier and tighter now, this release is
easily the most accessible one they made up 'til that point. Compared to their
other releases, it is almost a "bright" album with usually brief and focused
songs and a sharp production job, again courtesy of Rick Rubin and the band.
Actually, more than a decade after its release, the albums sounds a bit thin,
especially with all the ringing percussion and use of cymbals (which is most
noticeable during the simple groove of "'Scuse Me," which comes dangerously
close to hair metal-territory after several listens), but the members turn
in performances that are so consistently inspired that no one would even dare
to consider this one of their lesser albums. Franklin and Wartell embellish
most songs with intricate interplay and tasty solos that have the appropriate
length and prevent the album from becoming a drag, the rhythm section of Stern
& Holzner keeps the groove tight throughout the album and helps to create
a platform for Wagner to again deliver some terrific vocals. Even though it
might all sound like the same testosterone-driven indie kid worshipping at
the altar of current faves like Sufjan Stevens and Antony & the Johnsons,
the diversity and creativity the band displays is quite impressive, ranging
from fresh and catchy hard rock tunes like "Come Touch the Sky" and "The Sleeper"
(which features some spectacular guitar work) and heavy chugging grooves like
"Fear" and "Hello Strawberry Skies." As on the previous albums, Manic Frustration
also flirts with the band's love of classic pop and rock and by consequence,
you get songs like "Tragedy Man," "Mr. White" and the title track, which are
obviously indebted to bands most other metal bands wouldn't even admit they're
familiar with (The Beatles were a band for pussies, you know). Whereas
I'm not fond of the two ballads here - "Rain" and the overlong "Breathe…"
- the band manages to reunite the gentler and tougher side marvelously on
a track like "Memory's Garden," driven by a classic, pounding chorus and,
again, some of the best guitar work on any of their albums. It may not be
a terribly innovative album, but apart from a few lesser cuts (the soft ones
and the occasional by-the-numbers one like "Tragedy Man") Manic Frustration
is one consistent listen, containing several of their best songs. More proof
of them being unjustly forgotten/neglected, in other words. (Jan. 22th, 2006)
Notes: 1: for some reason, songs 2, 3, 5 and 7-10 start with brief, distorted attacks; 2. this would be the last release with Stern, whose place would be taken up again by co-founder Jeff Olson. Sadly, Stern would pass away in April of 2005.
One for the Road EP (1994)
6.5
Goin Home / Window Pain / Requiem / Another Day / Doom Box
Despite
the fact that Trouble's two albums for Rick Rubin's American label received
quite some favorable press (especially Manic Frustration, still their
most successful album), the relation between band and label got embittered
and soon Trouble found themselves without one. One for the Road
is a limited edition release - containing only five songs - that was originally
recorded for promotional purposes and ended up being sold during a small club
tour in Europe, turning it into somewhat of an collector's item in the US
of A. As could be expected, the songs sound a bit rough around the edges,
lacking the spark and body of the previous two albums, but it's nowhere near
a disaster. Quality-wise it's okay as well, but certainly not deserving of
a lost classic-status (which it doesn't have, as far as I know). There's
really only one song that stands out and that's opener "Goin Home," which
after a sinister intro kicks off their trademark combination of force and
melancholy, heavy riffs and melodic vocals. None of the remaining songs falls
flat, although several feel a bit formulaic: "Window Pain" with its head-scratching
lyrics ("Looks like it's going to rain / window pain"??) continues the minor
key hard rock tradition, while the up tempo "Doom Box" sounds a bit fresher,
recalling Judas Priest more than ever. The "doom" is actually more present
in the slow groove of "Another Day" and the jolly depression anthem "Requiem,"
another extended opportunity for Wagner to mourn the loss of the good times
of yore. There's no use in questioning his sincerity, yet it's the kind of
track they've already done before. And better, at that. The playing's good,
the singing's good and the riffs are decent, it's just that One for the
Road doesn't tell you anything you don't already know, so you better make
up your mind whether you really wanna hunt it down on eBay or instead
waste the money on that Django Reinhardt box set you should've bought years
ago.
Note: "Requiem" and "Another Day" got rerecorded for their next album.
Read album reviews of similar or related artists: Black Sabbath