| Musical Style: Rock | Produced By: Bride & Dino Maddalone |
| Record Label: Rugged / Girder | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 1995 / 2020 | Artist Website: Bride |
| Tracks: 12 | Rating: 85% |
| Running Time: 54:54 |
Nineties era hard music fans lament the fact Bride did not pay attention to the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ in reference to the Louisville, Kentucky based acts 1995 seventh album Drop. Recorded on the heels of Bride’s acclaimed Aerosmith meets Guns N’ Roses blues based hard rock era, consisting of classics Kinetic Faith (1991), Snakes In The Playground (1992) and Scarecrow Messiah (1993), Drop could not have done a more thorough job of bucking the musical trend. It begins with how the album resides upon a foundation of straight up rock & roll and merges it with strong doses of acoustic rock, alternative, blues and even funk. Gone are the upbeat metal and hard rock vestiges and driving, heavily distorted guitars, replaced with a mellower retro 70’s guitar sound better in line with said musical leanings.
Critics back in the day were generally favorably towards Drop - Heaven’s Metal summed things up by suggesting ‘change is definitely a good thing’ - but fans, as one might imagine, were not quite so endearing. My experience is that it comes down to expectations: should a band meet those of its fans by pursuing the same musical direction one album after the next or branch out and explore different musical territory? Deliverance faced a similar conundrum when it transitioned from the melodic speed metal and thrash of its early material to the technical metal of that which followed. Yes, Bride could have catered to fans by recording More Snakes In The Playground or Another Scarecrow Messiah, but not unlike Deliverance, it had the mettle to take the artistic left turn when fan expectations were to stay the musical course.
Similar to how I accepted Deliverance’s decision to pursue new musical territory, I also supported Bride with the transformation it brought to Drop. In my opinion, however, it does not necessarily revolve around musical direction but whether or not Drop is a good album. I cannot help but think it delivers in spades in this regard in that while not my favorite from Bride, I rate it among upper echelon efforts to include said previously referenced classics and top turn of the century comeback albums Skin For Skin (2006) and Snake Eyes (2018). As for fans yearning for a continuation of the ‘old school’ sound, I can sympathize in light of the abrupt transition Drop brought to the table. That said, hindsight is also 2020 in that there are those that suggest Drop would have been better received if released as a Dale Thompson solo album instead as opposed to under the Bride moniker.
Despite a hard to find and out of print collector’s item, Drop was re-issued and re-mastered (courtesy of Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound) in the summer of 2020 on Girder Music with enhanced cover art to feature deeper (and better eye catching) cover art. As for re-mastering, the original version sounds fine for its era, but re-mastering produces the more polished sound with enhanced bass presence and crisper edge to guitars.
Opening cut “Personal Savior” does a choice job exhibiting those straight up rock flavorings. It resonates of the front to back up-tempo and inviting, home to guitars both acoustic and rhythm that while not crossing the hard rock threshold, impress of the pronounced and clear-cut all the same. “Personal Savior” talks about the need for that:
Everybody needs, someone to lean on
Everybody needs, to remember where they've been
Everybody needs, somewhere to call heaven
Everybody needs, something to believe in
Everybody needs, a personal Savior
Everybody needs, a hand from a friend
Everybody needs, a personal Savior
Everybody needs, freedom from their sin
Likewise, with follow up cut “Mamma” to mirror similar acoustic sentiments. Song upholds the up-tempo leanings, plainspoken for its verse sections interwoven with banjo but also haunting with a refrain to see Dale Thompson run the vocal gamut from the clean and smooth to soulfully gritty.
“You Never Knew Me” tempers things to an alternative laced mid-paced romp. Trudging bass plays a leading role, noting how Steve Curtsinger helps power the expansive low end, as brother Troy Thompson’s rhythm guitars periodically drive in and out of the mix. Placed alongside, this one is somewhat heavier than the preceding two. Forgiveness is the subject at hand:
Lead me by the hand
Like a lamb before the slaughter
Nail my body to the southern wind
I am your willing martyr
I turn to you
But you never knew me
I forgive you for the things that you do to me
Not so aptly entitled “Life Is The Blues” in returning to an acoustic heading with creative use of mandolin. A reserved folk rock signature impresses as Dale fittingly lowers his register, but also some lighter, airy aspects to allow Jerry McBroom’s robust drum work to rise above the crystalline mix.
Album hits its stride with “Help”, a first class plainspoken rocker combining equal parts uplifting and manifold bass driven with perfectly placed blues soaked signature. Force elevates further for the instrumental run to see heavier rocking guitars and Troy’s wonderfully soloing trade off. Lyrics deal with homelessness:
Hideaway hell, city of cardboard boxes
Lost their hope, look what it has cost us
Sleeping in the alleys, eating from the garbage cans
At night there cold, they need a helping hand
Hanging them for murder when they don't own a gun
They're sentenced to die before the trial's begun
Their hunger is deep, no money to their name
Environment controls them, it only brings them pain
Suffocated and lonely, painting the roses red
If they knew what we had planted, we might just loose our heads
“Only Hurts When I Laugh” preserves the up-tempo position but backs from the acoustic precedence in favor of a decided rhythm guitar foundation, not hard rock but of a marked focal point nonetheless. I can see it fitting in quite well on Scarecrow Messiah without significant change, a particular standing out from how the group also originally demoed it in 1993.
“Thrill A Minute” is one of a couple cuts here that while musically solid might have translated better within a metal and hard rock framework. It proves a tempestuous storm of a track, exuding a ton of energy and emotion as the group locks into a propulsive groove - I love the high strung backing vocals for the refrain - but I also cannot help but feel the angry mood literally screams for heavier rocking guitars. I can see “Thrill A Minute” working better on Kinetic Faith. Lyric snippet:
There's a peeping tom in the eye of god's house
Shooting insulin as quiet as a church mouse
Tried to clean his bones from a sulfur well
Turned his head couldn't stand the smell
A thrill a minute
Someone had a spirit, ran up and down the aisle
When the shouting stopped, the choir lay in a pile
Bell ringer pulled the rope and was lifted off his feet
Pastor disrobed, took the money to the street
I identify with “How Long” as a companion track to “You Never Knew Me” with its trudging disposition, seeping of another lumbering bass line and low-end impetus of a toiling variety to bring to mind The Jesus Experience (Bride’s 1997 follow up album) track “The Worm”. Mournful and wistful flavorings strategically point towards the alternative.
Those funk resonances come to life on “Have You Made It”, divulged in the fathomless grooving bass and manner in which vocals stretch towards a high register. Interestingly, some of the albums heaviest guitars cut in for the undulating refrain and gutsy instrumental section. Closing cut “Jesus Came Back Via Jesus In Pawn Shop” takes a similar heading but tempered with an added acoustic basis.
“Nobodies Hero” is also of an acoustic nature but trending towards a folk bearing with its warmly tinctured qualities and deeply woven backing vocals. No, not exactly my type of song although to be fair it is well performed and constructed all the same. Lyric snippet:
Desires and fears, my doubts and tears
My joys my loves, to him above
My anguish and my lust the skeletons I dust
One slot machine one stop light town
And if Jesus came back tonight
To every story there are two sides
If you walk with the devil he'll tell you a lie
“I’m The Devil” is the second cut here that better potentially lends to a metal or hard rock direction. With its seven-minute length, it brings a light progressiveness - some cool improvisational moments help to extend things - interwoven with a biting impassioned flair and refrain of a catchy, anthem-like capacity. Whereas in my opinion “I’m The Devil” is potentially one of Bride’s best cuts ever, impression left (at least to these ears) it would translate even more powerful with metal-based guitars. Consider how the group demoed it in the late eighties (under the title “I Am The Devil”), so it might have been a better fit on Silence Is Madness (from 1989) instead. Lyric snippet:
I'm the devil, if you want to loose your freedom
I'm the devil, if you have nothing to loose
I'm the devil, if you want it all now
I'm the devil, come here and take it
Come and take my hand everybody can
Come and take my hand everybody can
Mothers hide your babies
Teach your children what the good book says
Righteous never forsaken
I find Drop falsely maligned within hard music circles, or at the very least has unfairly received a bad rap solely on musical direction not in step with the heavier formula to classic albums that went before. Yes, I appreciate the metal and hard rocking edges to Bride’s earlier albums; that said, it also cannot be denied the musical aptitude of Drop. I wish there were times it rocked a bit heavier, but Bride also makes a seamless transition to straightforward rock laced with the acoustic and alternative. Overall, if you missed out on Drop back in the day or want to give it a well-deserved second chance, I encourage you to pick up the Girder Music re-issue.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Personal Savior” (4:02), “Mamma” (5:05), “You Never Knew Me” (4:35), “Life Is The Blues” (4:26), “Help” (4:59), “Only Hurts When I Laugh” (3:43), “Thrill A Minute” (3:40), “How Long” (5:00), “Have You Made It?”(4:13), “Nobody’s Hero” (4:11), “I’m The Devil” (6:57), “Jesus Came Back Via Jesus In A Pawn Shop” (4:03)
Musicians
Dale Thompson - Lead Vocals
Troy Thompson - Guitars, Mandolin & Banjo
Steve Curtsinger - Bass
Jerry McBroom - Drums & Percussion
