Brides of Destruction - 'Here comes the Brides'
Released on Sanctuary Records on March 9th, 2004
THE BAND:
Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) - bass
Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns) -guitar
Scott Coogan - drums
London LeGrand - vocals
additional musicians:
John Corabi - guitars
Kris Kohls - drums on tracks 2, 6, 8, and 9
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) "Shut the F**k up" - This track is the first single
taken from the 'Brides of Destruction' release. The song kicks of with a
small backwards masking section. From the opening chord there is
absolutely no doubting who is playing the guitar or bass. London's vocals
of the pre-verse sound overdubbed. This effect makes the vocals real thick
sounding. The intensity of the musical and vocal arrangement for the
pre-verse and verse gives the song a sound a lot like the stuff Nikki wrote for
Motley's self titled release with John Corabi. The choruses of this track
are classic heavy metal writing, keep very short and simple. Tracii rips
off a classic eighties style metal solo.
2.) "I don't care" -This track opens with a Tracii lead rhythm.
The guys of Bride chose to use a vocal effect for the pre-verse this added a
nice touch to the vocal lines. There are hooks laced within the entire
vocal line of the song. The musical arrangement is keep fairly simple.
After the first verse there is a very cool pick slide that really brings out the
guitar arrangement. The song has a small breakdown section before the
solo. The solo itself was a little short and not nearly as intense has the
musical arrangement itself.
3.) "I got a Gun" -This semi-ballad opens with a clean electric
picking guitar pattern. London's vocals of the opening vocal line has a
very eerie Layne Staley of Alice in Chains feel to it. Over the main
guitar arrangement John or Tracii is playing a simple fill in guitar riff.
The backing harmonies of the song are placed to perfection. Nikki wrote
one hell of a bass line for this track. I really liked how Scott changed
the drum rhythm for the musical section before the solo. The guitar
arrangement behind the guitar solo really brings Tracii's solo out. The
best word to explain the guitar solo is unique you really have to hear it to see
what I'm saying. It has quickly became one of my favorite solos from
Tracii. The added hi-hat accents for the solo really gives the musical
arrangement a polished sound.
4.) "2x Dead" - This track kicks off with a real heavy sounding guitar
arrangement. At times the vocal lines through the pre-verses have a
Buckcherry feel to them. London really shows his vocal ability on this
track by changing vocal styles between the verse and chorus. The song has
a real cool musical change for the chorus. The backing harmonies of the
chorus are very tight. At times the choruses vocal line has an almost Queen
sounding effect. Tracii wrote a very solid and memorable solo for this
song. There is a breakdown section after the solo.
5.) "Brace Yourself" -This track opens with guitar and vocals in the background
you can hear static like the older turn tables use to produce. The musical
and vocal arrangement of the verse have a very modern rock feel. Tracii
really shows his guitar writing experience on the guitar arrangement. The
choruses have huge backing vocal harmonies. After the first chorus there
is a real short one bar breakdown section. There is a very small pick
slide in the musical background of the second chorus that really makes the
chorus standout. There was no solo which knowing who the lead guitarist is
I was little surprised at first, but the lead rhythm is so strong a solo really
was not needed.
6.) "Natural Born Killers" -This track opens with a small drum fill.
The musical arrangement of the intro and verse have a modern rock feel to them.
London shows great vocal control for the verse. The choruses vocal
arrangement sounds like it came right from a 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' CD.
The backing harmonies right after the chorus completely blew me away!! The
solo for this track is very laid back with a melodic feel. For the outro
section the band rip off this very cool metal blues arrangement.
7.) "Life" - lead vocals done by drummer Scott Coogan. The
guitar arrangement and pre-verse of this track has a very melancholy feel to it.
Tracii and the rest of the band kick the song in for the verse. The main
rhythm guitar arrangement is keep fairly simple. Scott pulls off a huge
vocal hook for the pre-chorus and chorus. There is a pick slide between
the verse and pre-chorus that fills in some of the dead spots. For the
second verse the band changes the musical arrangement. This musical
arrangement builds with power as it progresses. The backing harmonies are
very tight on the choruses of this track. The song was lacking a melodic
Tracii solo.
8.) "Revolution" -This track opens with a very intense musical
arrangement. The intro has a couple of double bass drum patterns in the
drum line. There is also a couple lead riffs that kind of has a horse sound to
them. The opening and closing of the hi-hat added a nice effect to the
musical arrangement of the verse. The multi tracked vocal harmonies of the
chorus gives the chorus a real thick feel. The breakdown section before
the solo has a spoken vocal section that's along the lines of a someone giving a
speech. The solo's arrangement and sound completely changes the dynamics
of the song. The solo goes through and underneath the last chorus.
9.) "Only get so far" -Nikki co-wrote this song with songwriter James
Michael. The song was actually written for the Grammy winning Country
Music couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. But after hearing it, Tracii said,
"F*ck that we're keeping this for ourselves!" This
musical arrangement of this track consist of acoustic guitar with a simple
electric guitar pattern over it. The vocal lines bleed into another.
You can tell Sixx wrote this with two people singing in mind. The vocal
echo added a nice effect to the vocal lines. There are these little chord
progression sections that really polishes the song and makes it shine.
Even with the multi tracked vocal sections the song has a raw demo feel to it.
The solo like the song is just very laid back and grooves. The second half
of the solo that runs underneath the chorus really brings London's vocals out.
For Nikki Sixx the main songwriter
and driving force behind Motley Crue and Tracii Guns who not only plays guitar
in LA Guns, but also at one time was the guns in Guns 'N Roses it was time to
get back to basics.
Ever band has one main ambition, That is to make it in
the music business, write hit songs, and sell millions of CD's. There is
so much pressure place on bands after reaching such success. That in most
cases the musicians get burnt out from years of being told which songs will be
used and which ones will stay on the killing floor. Which is very hard for
songwriters to handle because after all, in a sense, their songs are their
children. For several years Nikki and Tracii both have dealt with this so
together along with Scott Coogan and new comer London LeGrand the made the decision to get
back to basics. Because in the end that's what the music is about.
'Brides of Destruction' is a stripped down raw version of
Motley Crue and LA Guns. Of the nine songs that are on 'Here Comes the
Brides' the only time you can hear where Nikki and Tracii spent any money and
that is on the multi tracked vocals. I was completely blown away by not
only London's vocal ability's but also the vocal ability of Scott Coogan on the
song "Life". The songs have just enough of a modern rock edge while
keeping a eighties metal style that fans of both will really enjoy this release.
If your fans of Both LA Guns and Motley then this is a great addition to your
collection especially if your into their early material.
In addition to the nine tracks the CD is enhanced with a five
or ten minute interview of the band that you can play on your PC.