Brad
Welcome to Discovery Park
Redline
Welcome to Discovery Park, Brad’s third release had a long journey home.
Brad, considered a “super-group” by industry reps, consists of Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, Satchel’s Shawn Smith on vocals and Ragan Hagar drumming. Ironically, they were without a record label until just three weeks before Discovery Park’s release. No matter their label worries, Brad has created an enjoyable album rooted in classic rock with hints of R&B.
Welcome to Discovery Park at times feels like an expensive, over-the-top record from a 1970s classic rock group. The first single, “Brothers and Sisters,” builds to a slow, raucous chorus while giving us an anthem for the ideal family. “Shinin’” draws heavily on rock’s early days as an offshoot of rhythm and blues.
The album even has a few ’70s-style ballads. “Never Let Each Other Down” offers beautiful, ethereal harmonics, placing the listener in a near trance. Its companion piece, “If You Could Make It Good,” continues the melancholy but maintains a sense of hope. It builds to a crescendo of Smith’s stuttering piano and Hagar’s accented drums, and then very easily, and just as quickly, retreats.
No doubt, Welcome to Discovery Park cements Brad as a very capable, energetic and versatile rock band.
