Electric Frankenstein
Super Kool
Morpheus Records
I was drawn to this straight-ahead rock album by its Big Daddy Roth influenced cover, and I’ve fallen in love with the cartoon inspired liner notes and 3-D pictures of Franken Babe. A trip to their website will reward the casual reader with an amazingly pompous list of claims and accomplishments, ranging from listing vaguely known reference books to influencing the White Stripes. Marketing-wise, these guys got it nailed. Musically, I think their claims exceed their skills.
Electric Frankenstein competes in the crowded Speed Metal department, and occasionally sounds like Ozzy on a sober day. There’s an unimaginative drum line (John Steele), screechy vocals (Steve Miller) and pretty good guitars (Miller, Sal Canzonieri and Bill Gill). Lyrically, you can hear what they sing, but aren’t that excited by it. The mix is professional, leaving each instrument standing on its own. The strongest cut is a live version of “Never Say Die,” written by Ozzy and performed decades ago. These guys are close, but still need SOME undefined thing to push them into the big time. I’m not sure what that is, but press quotes aren’t it.
Electric Frankenstein: http://www.electricfrankenstein.com • Morpheus Records: http://www.morpheus.com
