A brilliant beginning to a story that ended far too soon, this funk metal/glam metal hybrid slice of awesomeness is a true blue example of what happens when you bring a beer keg three hours late to the party. It may be the best friggin' brew on the planet, but by the time you arrive there everyone has already had their fill. And in the world of contemporary heavy metal, 1992 was very late indeed to be trying to combine the majesty of
Queen, the production of
Def Leppard and the funky fire of
Primus into a singular, muscular sound that radio audiences could still eat up.
Still, you can't help but be a little bit amazed once you take a bite out of T-Ride's one and only LP. For starters, you have
Geoff Tyson on lead guitar...the ONLY person on the planet besides
Steve Vai to graduate from the tutelage of
Joe Satriani with flying colors. You also had
Eric Valentine on the drums and producing, a really talented guy who would later go on to work with
Queens Of The Stone Age,
Slash and even
Third Eye Blind on their '97 debut. Couple these two powerhouses with the snarling machine gun vocals and bass skillz of Dan Arlie...and that's some sweet mofo magic you just can't top easily.
Furthermore, this is a
bona fide glam metal album you can dance too without any problem whatsoever...and yet it's still heavy as ****, as the propulsive pair of 'I Hunger' and utterly delirious 'Hit Squad' demonstrate in spades. Despite the vestiges of a reverby 80's production job threatening to smother the proceedings, the sheer manic glee that these three virtuosos brought to the studio is infectious, and nothing overstays its welcome. Even the power-pop tinged opening number 'Zombies From Hell' is only 4 and a half minutes long...and that's the longest thing you'll find here. Brevity may not always be desired in an album, but with the whole album only clocking 35 minutes from start to stop, you can appreciate how they can maintain a high level of energy and throw in some cool details for variety's sake simultaneously.
Even if early 90's funk/alternative metal doing the tango with super slick L.A. hair metal seems like something you'd care to do without, I assure you all that this sucker has so much going for it that you'd be doing yourselves a disservice if you don't give it a fair shake. Do you really think it would make it to #3 on this list otherwise? Party on!
