Tracks - 1. "Guitargasm" 2. "(Love So) Far Away" 3. "The Money Grind" 4."U Can't Have It All"
5. "Po' Boy" 6. "It's Over" 7. "Yesterdaze" 8. "Reasons"
MARK HARDEN – Guitars
TODD "VITO" DeVITO – Drums
WILLIE BASSE - Vocals, Bass, Producer, Engineer, Mix

Track 9 - "Danger Zone"
RANDY CASTILLO – Drums
BRIAN CONROY - Lead Guitars
WILLIE BASSE - Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Mix

Track 10 - "Unloveable" & 11. "Avarie"
JAMES BRADLEY, JR.- Drums
JP CERVONI - Lead Guitar
WILLIE BASSE - Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Mix

Tracks - 12. "Don't Waste My Time" & 13. "Immortal"
RIC PARNELL – Drums
BRIAN CONROY – Guitars
WILLIE BASSE - Bass, Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Mix

Track 14 - "You're Not There"
WILLIE BASSE - Vocals, Guitars, Producer, Engineer, Mix
BRIAN CONROY – Guitars
TONY SHOGREN - Percussion

1.) "Guitargasm" -Instrumental
2.) "(Love So) Far Away" –This track opens with a heavily influenced late eighties melodic metal rhythm guitar. After two measures the rest of the band kick-in.  Speaking of which there is a huge drum fill connecting the musical intro to the musical verse. There is a second drum fill for the lyric kick-in. The rhythm guitar arrangement for the verse does not actually change until the first lyric line. Willie’s vocals are dead on!!!! On the fourth lyric line there are a couple of lead guitar licks thrown into the rhythm guitar arrangement. There is no distinction between the verse and chorus. If it had not been for Wiilie’s backing vocal overdubs I would have probably missed it. Even though the rhythm guitar for the musical chorus does change it still passes you by. I felt a lot of this was due to the fact the lyric lines are smashed real together real tight. Willie also changes the bass line for the musical chorus. The second chorus was more of a breakdown section musically then actual chorus. This just shows Willie’s songwriting ability. The lead guitar solo connects the second chorus with the third verse. Though the solo seems like it goes on forever the way Willie, or, the guitarist wrote it has the solo going through several different stages. Most solo’s are written in away where it’s, ‘here see what I can do’ however this solo had a point to it. For the third verse, the drummer switches his bass drum pattern to a shuffle pattern. The third chorus was arranged with a breakdown feel much like the second chorus was. I think the only difference is the way the cymbal crashes where done. 
3.) "The Money Grind" – This intro opens with an industrial sound effect. Instead of using an acoustic snare the drummer used some type of electronic pad or drum. This gives this has the effect of two steel things hitting each other. Over the top of the main musical intro there is a small minor lead guitar solo. I have to be honest here. I know why Willie used this effect for the snare. However, I cannot get over the fact a standard acoustic one would have been more effective. Hell, it just may be my age starting to show! Willie sings several vocal accents over the top of the intro section. These vocal accents give the intro a very melodic feel. There is a small snare drum fill connecting the musical intro with the musical verse. It is at this point I realized that Willie added the steel effect over the top of the snare drum notes. There are several pauses between the lyric lines this lets the musical arrangement of the verse become the main focus. Personally, I don’t think I have heard an arrangement like this before. There are a couple of times where the rhythm guitarist strays from the rhythm riff underneath the vocal lines and throws in a few lead guitar licks. The backing vocal of the first chorus was done with an added effect. There are several lead guitar licks thrown into the rhythm guitar arrangement underneath the lyric lines of the second verse. Because of this guitar licks, if I had to guess I would say Marshall Harrison played guitar on this track. The arrangement has a very syncopated feel to it. In several ways all the arrangements sound like the guys just threw everything up against the wall and what stuck they recorded. This track had a blistering lead guitar solo that just seems to go on forever!!!
4.) "U Can't Have It All" - This track opens with a simple early eighties almost Mick Mars (‘Too Fast For Love’ era) demo feel to it. After one measure the drums kick-in with a tom-tom/snare fill. It’s very hard to tell however I believe on the tom-tom notes Willie also plays bass. After a couple of measures the main intro section kicks-in. There is a small rhythm guitar change underneath the lead vocal lines of the verse. The musical arrangements along with the way Willie arranged the lyrics of the verses gives the song a late seventies early eighties hard rock feel. There is a small snare fill to connect the musical verse with the musical chorus. For one reason or another lyric arrangement of the chorus reminded me of Thin Lizzy’s stuff. There was a small music arrangement change to connect the chorus with the lead guitar solo section. As the lead guitar solo progressed it built with intensity. For the chorus after the lead guitar solo the drummer altered the bass drum pattern by throwing in a few double bass drum licks. 
5.) "Po' Boy" –This track opens with a measure of just a bass line. When the main intro kicks in the rhythm guitar has reggae feel to it. Over the top of the intro Willie has a couple vocal accents. These vocal accents are reminiscent of the disco stuff Paul Stanley and Kiss attempted on their 1979 release titled ‘Dynasty’ and their 1980 release titled ‘Unmasked’. The main instrumentation underneath the vocal lines of the verse is the bass & drum line. The lead guitar is mainly just playing fill-in lead licks. For the last couple of lyric lines the rhythm guitar finally kicks-in with the same rhythm as the intro. When Willie was writing the verses for this track he had to of been channeling the spirit of the legendary reggae master Bob Marley. There is a drastic rhythm change for the chorus. This rhythm guitar change I was not expecting at all. There are a couple of musical rests to separate the first chorus with the second verse. MY GOD, what a bass line underneath the second verse!!!!! There are a couple of musical genres within this track alone. They go from one end of the spectrum to the other how in the hell Will made them work I do not know but he did.
6.) “It’s Over” –This track opens with a heavy metal rhythm guitar blues riff. One measure into the intro the guitarist or a second guitar player kicks-in a second rhythm. The guys used the same rhythm riff for the musical verse as the intro. Because Willie’s bass line is the same as the rhythm guitar arrangement it causes the verse to have a very heavy feel. The verses for this track are very short. The rhythm guitar underneath the vocal lines of the chorus has a lead guitar feel to it. Leading into the lead guitar solo Willie, not to be out done by the guitarist changed the bass line just a little. In between the lead guitar solo Willie does a vocal accent. The lead guitar solo for this track was amazing!!!!
7.) "Yesterdaze" – This track opens with a classic rhythm guitar riff. There is a small drum fill to lead into the main intro section of the song. There is a small minor lead guitar solo that connects the intro with the musical verse. Vocally & musically the verse had a very classic sound to it. Underneath the vocals Willie turned his bass up to give the music a very heavy sound. There are a few lead guitar licks connecting the verse with the chorus. Willie’s vocals and vocal lines of the chorus have huge hooks attached to them. There is a minor solo connecting the first chorus with the second verse. Laced in between the lyric lines of the verse are minor lead guitar solos. If I had to guess, looking at the guitarist that are on this release I would have to say Mitch Perry done the guitar work on this CD. 
8.) "Reasons" – All in all very simple arrangements with huge Willie hooks. 
9.) "Dangerzone" –This track opens with two backing harmony vocal lines. There is no intro for the track. The musical verse opens with a laid back shuffle arrangement. There is a small rhythm change underneath the opening lyric line. Even though there is a small rhythm change for the chorus, the way everything was written causes the verse and chorus to bleed together. After the second chorus there is a small drum solo leading into the lead guitar solo section. There is a second more minor solo over the top of the outro section.
10.) "Unloveable" – This track opens with a seventish rock-n-roll intro section. The intro consisted of two guitar arrangements. The first underlining arrangement was a very simple hard rock arrangement. This rhythm riff reminded me of another rhythm guitar riff of the seventies. However, I cannot, for the life of me remember what it is. The second guitar arrangement was over the top of the entire musical intro and was a minor lead guitar solo. Because of the different effects used the minor guitar solo sounded like it was being played by two different guitarists. Over the top of the last couple of notes of the minor guitar solo Willie sings a few vocal accents. The only real reason these vocal accents are there is to separate the musical intro with the musical verse. The main instrumentation underneath the lyric lines of the first verse is the drum & bass line. To differentiate between the intro and the musical verse the drum line of the into used a hi-hat opening and closing pattern. For the musical verse the drummer kept the hi-hat closed. Even though it is the same drum line, just doing something that simple can give the song a whole new sound. The guitar doesn’t really kick-in until on the third lyric line. As the guitar arrangement begins it starts off playing a minor solo them progresses and builds to a standard rhythm. There is no distinction between the verse and chorus. The backing vocals of the chorus though very simple were amazing!!! There is a minor lead guitar solo underneath the chorus of the outro.
11.) "Avarie" –This is what you would call the ballad of the release. One of the first things you will hear, or, I did anyway was how much Willie turned the bass up. If I am not mistaken, I believe there are two rhythm guitars; one electric and one acoustic. However, Willie’s bass is turned up s o much it is hard to tell. “Big Will, I apologize however, if it had not been for the bass being turned up this could have been one of the top five ballad you would have ever written.”
12.) "Don't Waste My Time" – The intro itself of this song had a demo feel to it. There is a small musical rest connecting the intro to the verse. At first you think the musical verse is going to be done with a sixteenth-note hi-hat pattern. However think again! In the ay Willie wrote the song just gave that effect. It’s odd however; I would swear that it was not Basse singing this song. In the way the chorus was recorded gives it a demo sound. There is a minor lead guitar solo underneath the lyric lines of the first chorus. There is a small rhythm change after the first chorus. At this point in the arrangement the band speeds the song up for one measure. Just to have a musical rest and bring the song back down. 
13.) "Immortal" –Instrumental
14.) "You're Not There" – This track opens with an acoustic guitar over the top of a percussion section. The opening vocals lines were double tracked (hell, more like triple tracked…lol…) and arranged to give the song sixties feel. The percussion of the verse gave the song a seventies pop feel. At times the way Willie set the lead vocals up gave them a duet feel. Right off, I was completely taking aback by this track. Not that I did not think he was capable of writing one, you just don’t expect it from a metal head. All in all I can wrap this track up by telling you to listen to any seventies top-forty’s ever released! 

     The last time I heard the name Willie Basse was about ten years ago with his band Blacksheep. “…Damn it’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this that long…anyway…” The very same week of reviewing the CD Willie and Marshall (Harrison) just happened to be doing an autograph session at the local FYE. During the course of our conversation that day I mentioned, that vocally, he remind me a lot of Paul Stanley. After that comment it was kind of like when you met someone in a bar we traded numbers. However, after the Paul Stanly comment it was like, I have to wash my hair tonight!!!….LMAO...Seriously like with everything we just feel out of touch.
     For ‘The Money Grind’ Willie not only covers the gambit of the music genre by writing songs from everything from heavy metal to reggae. However he hired some of rock’s heaviest hitters to help him record it. Vocally, Willie ranks up there with some of the best vocalists in the business and at times I find it surprising that he is not as well known as he is. And musically the guitar/bass & drum work is amazing. So going by each individual song the CD is amazing. Nevertheless that is not the case. That is in a sense the downfall of ‘The Money Grind’, the track listing. However with that being said, just about every song on this CD alone is a great song. But the bottom line is together as a whole and ‘The Money Grind’ will leave many rock & metal fans scratching their heads. I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy the release, in fact, just the opposite. I think you should by it, however don’t expect to be an album you’ll play it from beginning to end.  But one of those albums you will skip around on.