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SKELETOON
"The 1.21 Gigawatt Club" (Scarlet
Records; 2021)
Reviewed by Metal Mark
So. This is a power metal tribute to one of the great motion picture trilogies of all time. The "Back to the Future" series. I know. Sounds weird up front. But this isn't Skeletoon's first sojourn into movie tributes. Their album, "They Never Say Die" was all about the "Goonies" movie. And they do call themselves "The Nerd Metal Heroes."
So. "The 1.21 Gigawatt Club," as you may have guessed from the "gigawatt" in the title, is all about the "Back to the Future" series. With song titles like "Outatime," "The Pinheads" (Marty McFly's band) and "Eastwood Ravine," that's kinda of a given. But what's the music like? Well, it's power metal in the sense of bands like Dragonforce, Rhapsody and Helloween (which is interesting because the band apparently began as a Helloween cover band called Jack-o'-Lantern). In other words, it's full of soaring vocals, speedy rhythms, flashy (and also speedy) guitar and high production values. The songs are big (some bigger than others—the running time of "Eastwood Ravine" is well over seven minutes), the sound crisp and clear and the lyrics ... well, they're pretty amazing in how they stick to the "Back to the Future" theme.
Bottom line here is, that if you're into power metal and the "Back to the Future" movies, there's no way you won't like "The 1.21 Gigawatt Club." My favorite tracks were the marching drive of "The Pinheads," the fast and furious "We Don't Need Roads (The Great Scott Madness) and the closer, a raging version of the classic "Johnny B. Goode."
It's a hell of a concept and executed quite well. Definitely worth checking out.
For more information, check out http://www.skeletoonband.com/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2023 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
