Roadside Attraction - Rock Formations
Secrets
Love Makes You Stupid
Lost Child
Trust The Sun
Flat World
Fancy Bars
Cosmic Thang
Sound OF The World
Rockpile
Year: 1998
Total Playing Time: 36:38 m:s
Review date: August 1998
Trying to pigeonhole Roadside Attraction is virtually impossible. They've got a diverse set of influences floating around the various members and they seem determined to include most of these on the album. 'New Century Rock' is how they describe themselves, who am I to argue.
With so many styles on display, it could all end up sounding messy and disjointed. Not so, the guys hold it all together fairly well. The adjective 'refreshing' is one that springs to mind when listening.
At the core of their sound is rock mixed with a touch of the rhythm n blues. This basic sound is on display on songs like Secrets, Trust The Sun, Cosmic Thang, Sound Of The World and Rockpile, with Cosmic Thang and Rockpile being the highlights. Another common factor is some modern 90s influences. Tunes where this gets the upper hand are Lost Child and Fancy Bars. A dinosaur like me would have preferred those to stay in the background. Love Makes You Stupid has got funked up verses and a punky chorus. This unusual combination creates a memorable song. Rock bands playing reggae is a formula that most often spells disaster. Just listen to the bonus track on the last Journey album. Actually a band called Girl, who featured Phil Collins (Def Leppard) & Phil Lewis (LA Guns), did get it right on their Sheer Greed album with Passing Clouds. Roadside Attraction also succeeds where many others have failed. On the production side of things, the CD has a live feel to it.
The majority of bands these days seem to write 2 or 3 songs based around a borrowed style and then spend the rest of their careers creating variations on that initial theme. Roadside Attraction are to be applauded for trying something different right from the start.
Rating: 7
