Devil's Canyon - Molly Hatchet
1996 - SPV(Germany) CD
- Bobby Ingram / guitars
- Phil McCormack / vocals
- Jimbo Manion / guitars
- Richie Delfavero / keyboards
- Tim Lindsey / bass
- Shawn Beamer / drums
- Danny Joe Brown* / vocals
1. Down From The Mountain
2. Rolling Thunder
3. Devil's Canyon
4. Heartless Land
5. Never Say Never
6. Tatanka
7. Come Hell Or High Water
8. The Look In Your Eyes
9. Eat Your Heart Out
10. The Journey
11. Dreams I'll Never See
After months behind bars and railroaded for throwin' sticks 'n' stones and breaking bones, joe rolls back into town brass-knuckled with his biker buddies, Molly Hatchet to reign terror, settle some scores, spill blood and hound high-heeled hoes.
Molly Hatchet was a top contender for the heavyweight belt of southern rock back in the day. Slithering out of the central Florida swamps in 1978 with their self-titled debut after burning down the local roadhouse circuit crankin' out bone-crushing blues-rock and boot stompin' boogie jacked with jaw breaking hard rock stillin' it with a steel-toe swagger. Rebellious and defiant, these boys carry a bad-ass attitude fuelling it with triple barrel guitars and washing it down with the whiskey throttled vocals from Danny Joe Brown and then following it through with one hell of a wallop, 'Flirtin' With Disaster': a combo that puts a tarring & feathering on the namby-pamby AOR. The next two albums ('Beatin' The Odds' and 'Take No Prisoners') don't quite muster the heat to sizzle the grease as big bad Danny Joe had to step aside and was replaced by Jimmy Farrar but with Danny Joe back in the fold with, 'No Guts...No Glory': a cast iron fry-panning cooking with one of the best southern rock anthems, "Fall Of The Peacemakers". "The Deed Is Done", released in 1984 (I dare you to mention, "Lightning Strikes Twice") was a turncoat to the confederacy as other southern rockers took a shinin' to the piddlin' '80's mainstream (other scallywags would include ZZ Top and .38 Special). Southern rock, now ramshackled and the southern cross flying at half-mast took a detour onto the dusty gravel backroads...
...the early '90's heard southern rock rekindle and Molly Hatchet (now armed with dual guitars and a organ) came out of retirement in 1996 with a belly full of white lightning and axes to grind with the fixin' and freewheelin', 'Devil's Canyon'. The only original member left at this point was Danny Joe Brown but another blow of bad luck hit (illness) and he personally recruited his replacement, Phil McCormack, a nearabout vocal sound and style and does a bang up job belting out patriotic and blue collar values as well as the outlawlessness of the south. Bobby Ingram (now waves the Battle banner for the band) carries the lazyman's load with his gut-wrenching guitar grooves and riffling riffs, sizzling solos, slippery slides and laying down layman lyrics.
The brouhaha starts as the bulyragging boys come outta gunnin' from "Down The Mountain" with wreckless abandoning with the roaring of "Rolling Thunder": a clobbering campaign as this hell-hole, "Devil's Canyon" is torched and wounded warriors ("Tatanka")and bleeding buffalos warpath over the aftermath of their blackened scorched earth. "The Journey" is an epic jam: a boiling stew. "The Look In Your Eyes"...what the hell...a dang ballad. The rest of the tracks chug the same heavy freight and the album closes out with a tasty acoustic version of the Allman Brothers', "Dreams I'll Never See" which Hatchet also covered on their first album.
'Devil's Canyon' is return to glory for Molly Hatchet. Nothing groundbreaking...nor a ninnyhammer, just a good ole fashioned ass-kickin'. A lambasting of melodic southern hard rock as the boys boast their southern roots proudly with big brash belt buckles and blood stained flannel shirts as they've taken their fair share of lumps and bruises along the way. The band's next two albums don't pack the punch of this album but 'Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge" is a big heaping of heavy metal. The band is still on the road, beer swillin', bar brawlin' and walking tall.
In the '70's, southern was the king of the mountain. On this moonless night, the flame faintly flickers on a distant hillside.
(* can't confirm if Danny Joe Brown did actually sing on the album but he did contribute some songwriting)
Rating: 7/10
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