Social Distortion — Sex, Love and Rock&Roll
[Time Bomb]★★★★★
Reviewed 19 October 2004by John Pusieski
Are you happy now with the choices you have made? Are there there times in life you know you should have stayed? Will you compromise than realize the price was too much to pay. Winners and losers......which one will you be today?
These are the questions Mike Ness and everyones favorite Orange county greasers Social Distortion are asking having suffered the loss of guitarist friend and comrade Dennis Danell from a brain aneurysm.
The release of Sex, Love and Rock&Roll has convinced me of many things. Unfortunately it tells me this album and subsequent tour is the sadly the end of Social Distortion. I have no facts to back this up, but its just a gut feeling I get from the lyrics. It sounds like a group that has put their differences aside one last time to pay tribute to their lost brother. But unlike previous albums this is an album of hope, an album that shows the mistakes of the past and poor choices people make and that maybe Ness and crew have a new faith or outlook on life and death as it is. No one is bulletproof forever.
Sonically this album has all the ingredients that you would expect. The power is still present, the energy is undeniable, but the passion and conviction is what drives this album into uncharted waters. What is surprising is the usual 50's type vibe is something I just don't feel here, its more pure and honest. Lyrically this is a very upbeat and positive affair and I believe Ness's dabbling into country and Rockabilly bubble to the surface more than a few times here to my delight especially on the standout tracks Winners and Losers and the song Angels Wing's which is done twice, once as Social Distortion and once as a personal goodbye from Ness himself...I'm not sure which version I like better but they both give me chills and both fucking rock.
Don't get me wrong there is a song or two I could live without here, but overall the good songs are so good you forget about the possible filler tracks here and there and it comes across as a stirring finale and tribute for one of my favorite childhood bands, and Dennis Danell may you rest in peace and rest assured your brothers have done you right.
These are the questions Mike Ness and everyones favorite Orange county greasers Social Distortion are asking having suffered the loss of guitarist friend and comrade Dennis Danell from a brain aneurysm.
The release of Sex, Love and Rock&Roll has convinced me of many things. Unfortunately it tells me this album and subsequent tour is the sadly the end of Social Distortion. I have no facts to back this up, but its just a gut feeling I get from the lyrics. It sounds like a group that has put their differences aside one last time to pay tribute to their lost brother. But unlike previous albums this is an album of hope, an album that shows the mistakes of the past and poor choices people make and that maybe Ness and crew have a new faith or outlook on life and death as it is. No one is bulletproof forever.
Sonically this album has all the ingredients that you would expect. The power is still present, the energy is undeniable, but the passion and conviction is what drives this album into uncharted waters. What is surprising is the usual 50's type vibe is something I just don't feel here, its more pure and honest. Lyrically this is a very upbeat and positive affair and I believe Ness's dabbling into country and Rockabilly bubble to the surface more than a few times here to my delight especially on the standout tracks Winners and Losers and the song Angels Wing's which is done twice, once as Social Distortion and once as a personal goodbye from Ness himself...I'm not sure which version I like better but they both give me chills and both fucking rock.
Don't get me wrong there is a song or two I could live without here, but overall the good songs are so good you forget about the possible filler tracks here and there and it comes across as a stirring finale and tribute for one of my favorite childhood bands, and Dennis Danell may you rest in peace and rest assured your brothers have done you right.
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