Boned - 'Up At The Crack'
                                                                                                                                          Released August  2004 through Perris Records
                                                                                                                                                                www.perrisrecords.com

THE BAND:
unavailable


TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) "Up At The Crack"-This track opens with a very laid back simple guitar riff.  The bass drum has been dampened just enough to let the bass drum head ring.  This made for a nice heavy sound to the bass drum.  The bass line does not kick in until the chorus kick in.  Instead of the bass line and drum arrangements playing the same rhythm the band opted for one to play one rhythm while the other is playing something else.  This type of rhythm arrangement gives the song a more heavier feel because it allowed the bass to fill in a lot of the empty spaces left by the guitar. The first half of the guitar solo is much like the main guitar arrangement very laid back.  The second half of the solo has a little more of an intense feel to it.    
2.) "Drain The Main Vein" - The band took this intro right out of the AC/DC fake book. You can hear on the intro section that that the drummer didn't use the dampeners on the toms.  It also sounds like he did not use any for the bass drum either.  The guitar arrangements for this track are very simple just using three chords.  The vocalist sounds a lot like Bon Scott anyway, but you really can hear the Bon Scott influence on the vocal accents.  The guitar solo has a blues/heavy metal feel to kit.
3.) "Ain't No Talking With Your Mouth Full" -This track opens with a very simple blues ballad riff.  Like a lot of AC/DC's older ballads the opening vocal line of this track is spoken instead of sang.  the bass was turned up loud enough to where at times it is very hard to hear the bass drum.  This song sounds like it had a feel where the guitarist just locked into a solid blues riff and went with it.  The only time the bass drum is really audible is during the breakdown and solo sections.  The guitar solo as an Angus Young feel only better quality of playing.  There is a small lead guitar scale that runs underneath the outro chorus section.  There is a small pause in the song where you think the song has ended but the band comes back to play one final music section.
4.) ""Loaded On Love" -The laid back guitar riffs of the rhythm and lead guitar arrangements of this intro have a sweet musical hook to them. One of the things that made this song sound so cool is that both guitarist along with the bassist are all three playing the same arrangement.  The guitarist pull back letting the lead vocals carry the pre-verse and verse sections.  The chorus is very similar to the stuff AC/DC where working on in the middle seventies.  Underneath the third chorus there is a small lead guitar scale. 
5.) "Wasted Line" -This track opens with a pretty standard heavy metal intro section.  During the intro the rhythm guitar and bass guitar are playing the same arrangement.  It sounds like the guys speeded the beats per minute up to the chorus section.  The choruses where keep fairly basic.   Before the breakdown section there is a small talk box section, that really through me for a second.  I really liked the bass breakdown section with lead guitar riffs over the top of it.  With the song being arranged the way it it then with the bass breakdown this song would make a great song to play live.
6.) "Drivin' On The Sidewalk" -This track also has an opening intro where the bass and rhythm guitar are playing the same thing.  This into also has a very Great White "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" feel to it.  At times the vocal line have a feel of a cross between Bon Scott and older Mark Storace (Krokus)---(little known fact that Mark Storace was offered the AC/DC job after Bon's passing)-- With influences from Great White, AC/DC, and older Krokus how can a band go wrong.  The guitar solo section has that older rock 'n' Roll feel that Great White used in several of there songs.  
7.) "Tails Up Heads Down" - This track opens with a simple AC/DC style guitar riff.  When the drummer kicks in the song has a feel of "You Shook Me All Night Long".  At times through the chorus I was reminded of the late eighties group Smashed Gladys.  The solo section was laced with an Angus Young signature lick.  The song has nothing too flashy.  Just solid rock 'n' Roll. 
8.) "Gotta Turn" - This track opens with a fairly easy sounding guitar arrangement.  The was the main body of the song was arranged gives the song a very early AC/DC feel.  After the first chorus there is a small lead guitar solo.  During the breakdown section the guitarist pays homage to Angus Young by playing a signature Angus Young lick.  This is another track off the CD that really has nothing special going on outside of being solid rock 'n' roll.
9.) "Loser" -This intro was another one taken right from the AC/DC fake book except for the double bass drum rhythm ending the intro section.  The musical and vocal intro of the verse and chorus keep  that same AC/DC feel.  Much lick with AC/DC albums the song was probably just put on there to make a complete album.  Not say that the song is bad, it's just straight forward with nothing special going on.  The song ends with a very strange vocal effect.
10.) "God Givin Right To Rock and Roll" -This track opens with an older Krokus sounding musical arrangement.  From right off the bat you can tell this is going to be a great song to hear live.  There are a couple real cool guitar riffs leading into the guitar solo.


        At times it can be very difficult to write reviews for releases such as this.  Mainly because the songs are written in simple fashion that there just isn't much to say without being repetitive.  A songwriter told me one time along time ago, "Keep one thing in mind when songwriting, Keep It Simple Stupid, if you write the songs simple enough for everyone to understand you will have a better fan base." And in a lot of ways this songwriter was 100?% right. Not saying people are stupid or simple minded it's the fact that most music listeners are not musicians, and use music to escape their problems and due not want a 20 to 40 minute opus.  This is the main reason 'In-A-Godda-Da-Vida" was shorted from 20 minutes to 4 minutes.  With all that being said, "Boned" took their main musical influence from AC/DC.  At times they copy the AC/DC sound so well that you forget that it's not AC/DC.  Lyrically, "Boned" has brought sex back into the lyric writing, and really, is there any better subject?? 
    In closing if you are a fan of bands like AC/DC or Krokus before 1983 that this is a must have.