aaamusic | On 26, Oct 2010

The Good The Bad strike me as a band who think that they are being pretty inventive when in reality they are pretty far from the mark. ‘From 001 to 017’ is an entirely instrumental rock ‘n’ roll album that rather than experimenting with musical parameters just sounds like a vocalist failed to show up in the studio.

For me, an instrumental album needs to stretch the boundaries of what one expects from rock ‘n’ roll music in order to be successful but The Good The Bad do the same on this album as pretty much any other band that are currently on the map. The most successful tracks take on an element of the Wild West which makes it sound more like a film score than an album and without vocals there is just a lack of depth to any of the tracks.

I am sure that many will disagree with my views on the album but for me the lack of deviation from two guitars, bass and drums is too one dimension and, dare I say it, frankly pretty boring. Every track blends into the next and this statement is not included in order to praise cohesiveness; simply to highlight the fact that there is a lack of originality here that is incredibly disappointing.

The most frustrating thing about this album is that with a vocalist, The Good The Bad could actually be on to something really exciting but rather than getting excited about what I have in front of me, I find myself dwelling on what is missing and this is an effect that music should never have.

Author: Josie Payne