White Light Rock & Roll Review

by

Matthew Good

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This is not a patch on "Avalanche". "Avalanche" was possibly the greatest album in pop/rock history so this can't top it, but it has some great guitar sound and is a homage to what sounds to me like 70's classic rock.

To me, that can only be a good thing, and anything by Matthew Good would be worth picking up and listening. I can't put my finger on all the sound but "Buffalo Seven" has a "Don't Fear The Reaper" thing to it and "Ex-Pats Of The Blue Mountain Symphony Orchestra" is the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" in sound.

I love guitar rock and this has some excellent guitar sound to it. If you are looking for another "Avalanche" you won't find it here. This goes back to Good's earlier work and it is not as mellow or does not have many long epic tracks. Still, an excellent album from a top notch performer. It is a pity that he is basically undiscovered in Australia as he should do very well here.

Well, it's been several months since I received Matthew Good's "White Light Rock & Roll Review" which was by far one of my most eagerly anticipated releases of 2004. Not much struck me on my first listen except how different the whole approach was to this album from his previous "Avalanche" (an absolute MUST purchase BTW) but I had read a bit about its development and felt I knew what to expect. My interest was peaked and it became clear that unlike just about all of Matt's other releases, this one was going to have to grow on me if it had any hope of taking hold. As I said, it's been months and dozens more listens and there's still not much happening. I appear to be in the minority of Matthew Good fans who seem to really like this (if fellow Amazon reviewers are anything to go by), but I find this album to be a curiosity at best, and largely unsatisfying.

It has a decent lead off single "Alert Status Red" although despite some topical lyrics even that has a -we've heard it all before- kind of vibe. The opening two tracks start loud and never take enough to time to even bother to go nowhere quickly. "It's Been a While..." & "Bad Idea" seem to harken back to songs that were better done on "Beautiful Midnight" but might appeal to fans of his more radio friendly stuff. "We're So Heavy" holds the promise of a well made tune but then reverts to an incongruous medley of sorts held together only by its lyrics. The Who homage "Ex-Pats..." sounds like it might have made a nice b-side someday.

Even the stuff I've grown to like quite a bit is flawed. "Blue Skies Over Bad Lands" seems to have everything you would want out of a MG epic, but it's minimalist arrangement doesn't seem to build along with its escalating ideas. It runs out of steam. I get the feeling I'd have to actually be in the room with the guy for this tune to have its full effect. "North American Life" is very good material but at 2:07 if you blink, you'll miss it. There's a sort of alt-country bonus track here that has a lot of charm too.

Matthew Good is a real virtuoso in a lot of ways. I was quite spoiled to first hear his whole catalog just prior to the release of "Avalanche" a couple years ago. It was deluge of sound and ideas and really got me excited about a new artist in way I hadn't been in quite a while. I'm still in the Matthew Good camp and can't wait to hear what he has in store next. After all, even a 3-star album like this has a multitude of moments that impress: a break, a turn of phrase, a strategically placed crack of the voice. The difference between this album and most of his others is that here these moments don't seem to add up to anything lasting.

And I really have tried to give it a fair shake.