| Musical Style: Metal / Hard Rock | Produced By: Ken Tamplin |
| Record Label: Benson / Girder | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 1993 / 2019 | Artist Website: |
| Tracks: 11 | Rating: 95% |
| Running Time: 53:53 |
Ken Tamplin’s eponymous third solo album from 1993 stands apart from his other hard music projects. Not just because of its radioactive green cover art - prompting fans and critics to dub it the ‘green album’ as a result - and unmistakable Ken Tamplin quality in terms of musicianship and production but also because it offers impeccable musical consistency. Released in follow up to debut solo album An Axe To Grind and sophomore effort Soul Survivor from 1990 and 1991, respectively, Tamplin finds the artist reaching the pinnacle of his artistic success or at the very least challenges in this capacity Magdallan debut Big Bang that he recorded in 1992 with guitarist Lanny Cordola. Similar to Big Bang, Tamplin separates with the strength of its songwriting in featuring eleven equally good songs with nary a skip button- not to mention tying with Big Bang for a seventh position finish in an Angelic Warlord article outlining the top 50 Christian metal and hard rock albums of the nineties.
Musically, it would not be out of line to suggest Tamplin is the artist’s heaviest album in drawing upon equal parts straightforward metal and hard rock with little if any of the frill and esoteric icing fundamental to Big Bang. It is also more musically focused than An Axe To Grind, which derives from ‘commercial metal’ and ‘gritty blues driven hard rock’ while allowing room for ‘acoustic rock and even instrumental jazz’ (per the 85% Angelic Warlord review of the summer of 2020 Girder Music re-issue). Tamplin also has more of a band-based feel when placed alongside in primarily featuring a core of four musicians in Ken Tamplin (vocals & rhythm guitar), Scot Van Zen (guitars), Robert Kent (bass) and David Raven (drums). Contrast this with an Axe To Grind, which went under the appropriate moniker Tamplin & Friends in light of its numerous guest performers to include five guitarists, three bassists and two drummers.
Tamplin also received the Girder Music re-issue treatment (spring of 2019) as part of the Legends of Rock series. Re-mastering lends an extra dose of polish to an already well-produced album, while packaging upgrades include a mini booklet home to liner notes from the artist (going into in depth detail about his musical gear) in addition to the original promo photos and press release from 1993.
“Dancing On A Volcano” sets the indefatigable tone from the start, bull rushing its way to chopping rhythm guitar (albeit not forsaking astute melody) but also mitigated (even if lightly so) as Hammond B3 decorates the glistening low end. Artist remains in fine form with its warmly tinctured 4-octave voice, as does Scott Van Zen with his present high strung lead guitar work. Lyrics maintain Ken Tamplin’s eye for quality:
Now we’re standing in a war zone
See the pride of power like we’ve never known
Dancing on a volcano
Ain’t no surrender when it’s said and done
Standing in a war zone
From the Throne of Action there’s nowhere to run
Dancing on a volcano
And the battle rages on
“Slave Trade” maintains the browbeating momentum. It cuts in at once in bare bones metal fashion, this is heavy as it gets far as Ken Tamplin is concerned, with a hulking rhythm section providing full support, noting the impervious work of Robert Kent and David Raven. The chanted left-right-left-right-left backing vocals lend a militant theme.
Up-tempo contour carries over to “Testify”, another explosive hard rocker with a keyed up disposition and all the hooks you could ask: the ‘testify, gonna climb that ladder to the sky’ refrain refuses to let go. Favorite part is the protracted instrumental section to see bluesy leads give way to a catchy guitar riff (first appearing on Shout cut “Little Liar (Luci)” off the At The Top Of Their Lungs compilation) to give way to funk flavored bass. Lyric snippet:
Getting’ right down to the real nitty gritty
It’s the soul that’s gonna be claimed
You know I’ve seen the Queen of All My Sin
She held a candle to my shame
Now I’m takin’ fate by the throat when it’s time
For that last little mystery
Wearin’ the chains that I forged in life
On the highway to eternity
Bluesy signatures further play up on “Mystery Train”. Song fades in to grainy guitars and elevated drums, not quite heavy as some but assertive all the same (it would not sound out of place on An Axe To Grind) with keyboards and vocal melodies playing indirect contrasting roles. Soloing maintains the bluesy form.
“Don’t Let The Sky Fall On Me”, albums longest at six and a half minutes, begins to some of the biggest guitars you will here only to have the bottom fall out as bass carries the opening verse sections. As momentum builds, guitars return and lead the way to the anthem-like refrain delivered with tons of stylish grace and class. Of particular note is the smooth sounding almost spoken word feel to vocals in places. Lyric snippet:
Don’t let the sky fall on me, is this dark before the dawn
Oh Heaven’s eye have mercy, to find my place in the Son
No, don’t let the sky fall on me, in this ghetto painted gold
Is paradise so far away, oh Captain of my soul
There ain’t no recipes for livin’
Beneath the Makers rage
What that Great Score Keeper’s markin’ up against our names
You know I’ve been searchin’ all the day of my youth
In hopes to one day meet The Face Of Truth
“In The Lap Of Legends” ups forward initiative on high, propelled by hooks galore as trenchant bass and thunderous drum rolls elevate the tempestuous musical storm. Backing vocals range from shouted (for the bracing verse sections) to harshly done (as found on the impelling refrain).
“When The Clock Runs Down” initiates to gravelly acoustic guitar prior to morphing into a full bore rocker, nimble with an unstoppable tempo to prevail the songs length but also heartened from the Hammond B3 to make cameo appearance to brighten the back end. Cool acapella vocal melodies - ‘clock runs down, it’s gonna run down, watcha gonna do when the clock runs down - are placed mid-point of an instrumental break to see more flashy lead guitar. Lyric snippet:
Man’s quest for knowledge is a strange affair
From know-how to nowhere
And while the fabric of life’s hanging by a thread
Cannibals of wealth are closing year’s end
To unborn generations the torch is passed along
Will they someday wake and and say ‘where have all the flowers gone’
Conflict of conviction gotta make some decisions
Right now while the die is cast
With massive drum solo to start, “Get Out Of My Sun” carries forward a similar high-strung tempo and added organ to embellish backing details but yielding the greater anthem-like routine. Quirky vocal melodies to bounce between the left and right channels give way to Van Zen’s extended run of lead guitar to see him exhibit his bountiful licks and chops.
“All The King’s Horses” represents one of albums few mid-tempo moments. Yes, tempered in terms of focus, but it delivers no less a heavy-footed blow, as revealed in the drubbing guitars to hammer in and out of the mix. Despite the forthright mentality, song does not lose sight of accessibility in terms of the subtle melody that delicately holds sway. Love the bluesy open-air guitars to close out the final seconds. Lyric snippet:
Napoleon took his shot and gave Hitler the thought
But oh they failed
Charlemagne thought he should
You know Constantine
He did the best he could
Oh Mistress of the Seas, villains of time
Madmen and lord of mankind
Ten Nation Federation, ripened by the hour
A Trojan Horse ready to devour
With “Movers And Shakers”, album still has not taken a downturn despite ten songs in. Rebounding to a more forward direction, it takes a straightforward hard rock heading but with lightly done funk overtures (check out the bass and backing vocals for refrain) and enough drum rolls and fills as to be mesmerizing ((as ever, artist has surrounded himself with quite the talented cast of musicians).
“Suspicious Eyes” closes things in scintillating melodic metal fashion. Guitars snarl and rumble with abandon, instilling verse sections with knife-like edges of gall, and elevated vocal melodies a deeply rooted sense of resolve, powering the unassailable refrain. Harmonica lends a bluesy touch for the instrumental moments and songs final seconds. Lyric snippet:
Is it certain madness that breeds the shame?
Is pleasure just the intermission of pain?
They say the eyes are the mirror to the soul,
We'll shake the secrets from the deepest bones.
Ignorant bliss in the muck and mire,
We're driving down Stupidity Street in a streetcar named Desire,
Its bitter truth in a cauldron of lies,
Guilty of a single crime, now you've got those
Suspicious,
Now you've got those suspicious eyes,
So vicious when you're caught up in all the lies,
If artists goal was to produce an album home to concisely done up-tempo metal and hard rock songs he succeeded in spades. Upshot is what this reviewer finds potentially to be his most cohesive and logically flowing batch of songs - no ballads, mellow cuts or laid back pieces - of a solo career dating to the early nineties. Yes, Ken Tamplin has released some good albums in the years to follow but that extra dose of effort and musical genius inherent to Tamplin not to mention showstopper An Axe To Grind he has not quite recaptured. Wish the artist all the success to once more compose 10 to 11 equally good metal and hard rock songs, recruit a top flight group of musicians (with Van Zen being the first) and put it together in the studio. Until then, check out the Girder Music re-issue of you missed the original back in the day or are interested in an upgraded version.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Dancing On A Volcano” (4:19), “Slave Trade” (4:14), “Testify” (5:28), “Mystery Train” (4:25), “Don’t Let The Sky Fall On Me” (6:23), “In The Lap Of Legends” (4:25), “When The Clock Runs Down” (5:22), “Get Out Of My Sun” (4:32), “All The Kings Horses” (5:31), “Movers And Shakers” (4:51), “Suspicious Eyes” (4:23)
Musicians
Ken Tamplin - Lead Vocals & Rhythm Guitars
Scott Van Zen - Lead Guitar
Robert Kent - Bass
David Raven - Drums
Additional Musicians
Roger Mielke - Organ
Tony Murga - Harmonica
Scott Breadman - Percussion
