So far, so good. Track four, "Gunfire In A Juke Joint", is a fairly minimalist track, with Seagal playing the bad man, and telling us "you know I gots to go, somebody done me wrong and it gone have to be corrected. If I can't find them soon, I'm the one who'll be...suspected." There are guitar solos in the form of standard blues riffs; nothing particularly awe-inspiring, but nothing embarrassing just the same.
"My Time Is Numbered" continues the hard man theme. Seagal is still whispering, it still just about works; but by this stage everything's starting to blur together. Five tracks in I started to wonder where this was going. The songs all adhered to the same firmly established blues conventions, and didn't seem to have the confidence to differ.
"Alligator Ass", track six, picks up the pace a little, but with a set of nonsensical lyrics, Seagal's low whispering vocals, and the lack of anything terribly catchy, it fails. Seven, "BBQ", is a more up-tempo, boogy-esque track. It's got another unpleasant screechy female vocalist, more whispering, and an extremely long guitar solo. Seagal can play, but is he playing anything anyone wants to listen to?
While listening to the album, it becomes apparent that Seagal is taking this quite seriously. It's a shame: many of these tracks would benefit from an increased dose of self-deprecating humour. Maybe this comes across more in his live shows, but I can't shake the impression here that Seagal is taking this very seriously indeed.
"Hoochie Koochie Man" finds Seagal singing lines like "He gone makes pretty womennnnn", and includes another long solo. It's at this point that I really started to lose interest, and I was only halfway through the album.
Perhaps with a producer who's less willing to allow the indulgence, a similarly less indulgent track listing, and more variety and catchy tunes, Seagal might be onto something. He's certainly not an abysmal singer or guitarist (when the song suits), but this just doesn't work.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
2 - Lisa McKay
Dan, I'm guessing that I wouldn't like Seagal's music any more than I like his movies, but I just have to say that your first paragraph is a work of genius!
3 - monica trif
The first paragraph is very bad, and if there are people don/t like his music, don't listen it! I like the both Steven Seagal's albums and there are milion people like them so every one has a taste and an opinion but is not necessary to be grudge and respectless
4 - Lisa McKay
Agreed that everyone's entitled to an opinion, Monica, which is what a review essentially is -- one person's opinion.
A sense of humor is very helpful, too.
5 - Mark Saleski
i am shocked! that lisa mckay is not a steven seagal movie fan. shocked!! ;-)
6 - Daniel Woolstencroft
Thanks Lisa!
Monica - I'm glad you like Seagal's music, and I'm not being "respectless". I honestly think that given the right album, I'd really enjoy what Seagal does.
Each, as you say, to their own.
7 - sally
I hope this gets through, i've always admired steven segal as a martial artist, as i i do jujitsu myself, but when i listened to his crystal cave album especially the song "don't cry"which really got to me,iwas really impressed, i then got the mojo priest album and luckily got tickets for the southend concert, which made it magical for me as i have loved that place since childhood. I unfortunately didn't get to speak to him at the stage door, to say thankyou and to put my hands together and bow to him, every body makes mistakes in life when they are young i myself have made several, but this person i think is doing alot of good now and that what people should see for him now.
8 - sally
i made some mistakes in my last comment about steven segal but i hope people understands what i'am on about thanks.