Album Review: Not The End Of The Road by Kissin’ Dynamite
– By Rob Jones –
It’s a pretty rare thing for a band to be young and seasoned veterans of their genre. The guys in Kissin’ Dynamite were in their mid-teens when they signed their first record contract, which gave them an early start, and as a result, their music is an excellent hybrid of artistic experience and youthful energy.
All of their prior six albums have been good, but I think they began to refine their sound two albums ago on the album Generation Goodbye.
I can’t really categorize these guys one way or the other in terms of the era they fit. It’s definitely hard rock, but it’s their blend of it where the roots are in the 80s style, but it’s given a very much modern mix. Not the end of the road follows up, and in my opinion exceeds, their last album Ecstacy, taking everything that worked on that album and dialed it up to 11.
Right out of the gate, you have the title track ” Not The End Of The Road,” an energetic rocker that has a thematic message that things will get better and that it’s in our hands, something I think the world needs to hear right now. Two more great rockers follow in “What Goes Up” and “Only The Dead” before slowing it down a bit for one of my top favorites from the album “Good Life,” which features guest vocals from Guernica Mancini of Thundermother, among other guests, This song is just a feel-good anthem.
In fact, anthemic is the word I’d use to describe this whole album, which is further proven by the next two songs, “Yoko Ono” and “Coming Home,” the latter of which is one of the major highlights of this album. “Gone For Good” is a ballad that seems tailor-made to be a radio hit. “Voodoo Spell” is another excellent rocker that blurs that line between old school and new hard rock.
The album ends on what, after several listens to the whole album, I’ve gradually come to feel is the best song on the entire album, “Scars,” which is a deep, moving, gradually building power ballad with some heartfelt lyrics. This is artistic honesty and the sort of thing I look for, where you see into the heart and soul of the person writing it, and it makes you feel.
Kissin’ Dynamite not only set the bar high for music this year but for themselves. This is easily their best album to date. This, in my opinion, is a perfect album, no weak songs, exceptional playing, fantastic melodies and vocals, everything works here. You could throw all these song names into a hat and pick your singles at random, that’s how good these songs are.
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