In his two decades-plus time in the public spotlight, Ted Nugent
\nhas worn many hats – hunter,NRA spokesman, PMRC opponent, and
\nreportedly once almost the owner of the dreaded Muzak. Oh, yes –
\nhe’s also been an influential musician and, aaah, unique stage
\npersona.<\/p>\n
So when you pick up one of Nugent’s albums, you expect to hear
\nhim living up to his reputation as the “Motor City Madman.” So, if
\nyou pick up his 1975 solo debut,you may be disappointed at how
\ncontrolled<\/i> the playing is. In retrospect, this was a smart
\nmove – Nugent allows us to see that the groove is the thing to
\nwatch.
\n(Editor’s note: Since this review was written, a re-mastered
\nversion with four bonus tracks has been released.)<\/i><\/p>\n
From the opening chords of “Stranglehold,” Nugent and his
\nbandmates are out to to show that they can not only carry a tune,
\nbut make you want to get up and groove. Maybe the guitar solo lasts
\na little too long on this one, but Nugent demonstrates his talents
\nwithoug jumping into the deep end – and this control is what makes
\nthe track noteworthy. The vocals of Derek St. Holmes also shine –
\nnot just on this track, but throughout the album.<\/p>\n
While “Stranglehold” is probably the best-known track on
\nTed Nugent<\/i>, it’s not quite the best. I’ve always preferred
\nthe rollicking “Snakeskin Cowboys,” which I first heard in the
\nglory days of Z-Rock. The bass work of Rob Grange adds a solid
\nbackbeat to the rhythm, and Nugent again turns in a solid,
\ncontrolled guitar solo. (In all fairness, I don’t think Nugent ever
\nwas a flashy soloist – though he did have some that were a little
\ntoo chunky throughout his career.) Close behind this one on my
\nbest-of list is “Stormtrooper,” which has a guitar riff that is
\ndamned near impossible to clear from your head once it burrows its
\nway in there.<\/p>\n
The greatest surprise on this album is a short delve into jazz
\non “You Make Me Feel Right At Home,” complete with vibes provided
\nby drummer Cliff Davies. It is an unexpected curve ball that Nugent
\net al. throw at you, but a very interesting one.<\/p>\n
While a good portion of
\nTed Nugent<\/i> ranks as some of the best music he ever created,
\nthe Nuge does make some minor mistakes. “Just What The Doctor
\nOrdered” is an okay song, but nothing special (and one which
\nprobably was not the best choice to open
\nDouble Live Gonzo<\/i> a few years later). “Motor City Madhouse”
\nhas a bit of a groove to it, but just fails to take off. And the
\nclosing track, “Queen Of The Forest,” is the only true throwaway
\ntrack here.<\/p>\n
It’s interesting to note that one track on this album, “Hey
\nBaby,” was covered some 15 years later by blues legend Koko Taylor
\n– showing how the two genres could overlap at times. I still prefer
\nNugent’s version, but Taylor did an admirable job on her
\nversion.<\/p>\n
It’s also amazing how well this album has aged – 22 years after
\nits release, it still sounds fresh, and is one that awaits
\ndiscovery from new fans just getting into Nugent. With a re-release
\ndue from Sony Music, it will be interesting to see how they plan on
\ntweaking the album for the ’90s.<\/p>\n
\nTed Nugent<\/i> is a solid effort from an experienced musician
\nand band, and despite one or two slips, is still an enjoyable
\nlisten that deserved to be re-discovered by rock fans of all
\nages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5798],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-35692","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ted-nugent","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35692"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35692"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}