Hellyeah - Stampede
by Dan MacIntosh
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Rock super groups are all the rage these days, but it's questionable if there is one out there that rocks as hard as Hellyeah. With Stampede, Mudvayne's Chad Gray screams his guts out. In contrast to Gray's other gig, Hellyeah song arrangements are much simpler than Mudvayne's, with powerful, low-end guitar and bass lines driving most every song. The best of which is "Alive and Well", which rolls to an irresistible grove fueled by Vinnie Pearl's muscular drumming. "Debt That All Men Pay" is also a showcase for Pearl's incredible drum work. The aforementioned songs, in addition to "It's on", find the band at its most focused musically. The only weak sauce cut in the bunch is "Hell of a Time". Its guitar riff-age is not as thick as the rest of the disc, and its Southern rock slide guitar part just sounds way out of place when compared to the rest of these tracks.
One called "Pole Rider" probably won't win any empathetic gentlemen awards from feminists. Its lyric describes the life of stripper, where it takes money to "get her on her knees." Immature dudes will dig this one, but few others will love or respect it. It's hard to tell if "Cowboy Way" is lifting up the redneck lifestyle, or making fun of it. It's hard to believe that people described as "reckless and worthless" can have much pride, however. In contrast, Gray is dead serious with "Better Man", as he describes his father as "the man who broke our home." The track begins with mournful acoustic guitar and also slips a little organ into its mix. It's this disc's most heartfelt moment.
Unlike many lesser all-star musical configurations, Hellyeah's second project as a band sounds natural and unforced. Although we don't know if LeBron James and his buddies will be successful playing on the same basketball team together, Hellyeah has, with Stampede, successfully mixed undeniable talent with sometimes hard to come by chemistry. The act simply stampedes straight ahead, without looking back.
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Hellyeah - Stampede
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