Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning collaborative effort from grunge veterans, 31 Mar 2008
If you're reading this, then the chances are you're already au fait with either, if not both, of the individuals that make up the Gutter Twins, and to a certain extent will know what to expect here (clue: QUALITY). Of course, there will be newcomers; curious and hopeful listeners, drawn in by the reputations and the rave reviews, and it's at those folk that this review is primarily aimed.
Saturnalia - the first complete album of collaborations between Greg Dulli (ex-Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age) - is a dark and moody affair; blues of the blackest kind from two of music's great survivors. While it's difficult to decipher the exact details of the experiences that inform this set of songs, it's pretty safe to say that these guys have "seen some stuff" in their time, and so if you're of the introspective, heart-broken, love-lorn, or occasionally cynical ilk, you're likely to dig this. It's serious stuff, for sure, best listened to late at night, with a glass (or bottle...) of whiskey at hand, or during a long drive in the dark. Just check out the ominous opener 'The Stations' for proof, or the dirty rock-out of 'Idle Hands' (built around a hulking riff that simply could not have been written for anyone other than Lanegan) or even the Dulli-led, shamelessly covetous closer, 'Front Porch' ("if she's fine as your missus, then she's fine enough for me").
It's weighty stuff throughout, but Saturnalia stops well short of being depressing, thanks to the simplicity of the compositions, the lushness of their arrangements and the conviction of their delivery. There is also a surprising lightness of touch - most notably on the Lanegan-sung 'Who Will Lead Us?' - that you just don't get with the majority of today's bands, which elevates this album further into the realms of genius. These two guys - regardless of what you know of them or their previous incarnations - are once again proving to be masters of their craft and the whole of this album reeks of quality and class.
Matt Pucci
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album of the year contender - already, 4 Mar 2008
I believe I possess everything that Mark Lanegan has recorded. Not bragging, just stating a fact to support my absolute admiration for what he has done, and my belief that he has one of the great voices in rock. The only album that I didn't really like was his Ballads of the Broken Seas with Isobel Campbell - which won awards for goodness sake, but just didn't cut it for me. Otherwise his solo work is of singularly excellent quality, he has the standout tracks on any Queens of the Stone Age album and as for the Screaming trees, easily the best and most innovative of the "grunge" bands.
Greg Dulli? Don't know so much about him but enjoyed a couple of Afghan Whigs albums, especially 1965.
So put them together and what do you get? An exuberant slice of psychedelic, rocky americana. On this album you will hear rocking beats, mental metal guitar, slower acoustic folky numbers, excellent vocal harmonies and truly superb, proper songs. Just look at the instruments that are played on this album. Guitars - electric and acoustic of course, drums, bass and keyboards, so far so ho hum. But there are violins and cellos on some tracks which add a warmth to the affair, the harmonium is hauled out to lend an ethereal rasp to "God's children". "Each to each" features sequenced beats merged with mandolin, and the closer "Front Street" is a slow burning, more traditional epic, kind of creepy, poem set to music.
Maybe I'm being over zealous in my support for this album but anything released this year that overtakes this as my album of the year (or indeed the last few years) will have to be special indeed. This album is that good! In the past couple of weeks we have had an excellent album by Gary Louris which knocked my socks off and now this one. Maybe 2008 will be the year of "New Americana". You heard it here first!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Suprisingly excellent, 7 Jun 2008
Some superb reviews here, not much more you can add really. A fine album, and so much more than "Idle Hands", which as a single is quite misleading as to how rest of the album sounds. Having purchased it on the strength of the Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age connection, I was perhaps expecting something a bit heavier. I honestly only expected something that sounded like a QOTSA side project, somewhere between Masters of Reality's "Deep in the hole" and the Desert Sessions 7/8. But Saturnalia stands on its own just fine. It's terrific hearing Lanegan's vocals again, and probably the best album i've heard this year. Just don't expect anything as up-tempo as "Hangin' tree".
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