Oh I had so much hope for you Great Lakes...you opened up your latest album, Ways of Escape with a bit of a proper rock and roll and got my hopes up. Unfortunately by the midway point my hopes were dashed and I found myself lost in a quagmire of Americana and folk rock that I couldn't find my way out of. Why Great Lakes, why did you do this to me?
I have to be honest, I'm completely over the whole Americana/folk/singer/songwriter thing. It's bad enough the world is falling apart around us and the economy is in the proverbial tank so the last thing I need is some band rambling on all depressed about this, that, and the other thing and sounding so down trodden and slow while doing it. When Twisted Sister asked us all back in 1985 what we wanted to do with our lives, I don't think many of us answered, "Mope around with lots of twangy guitars and pretend we're in love in with country music." My answer quite vividly was, "I want to rock!" After listening to so many of these countrified artists I just want to go listen to something that's so over joyous and rocked out that my head explodes.
Anyway, rant aside, I tried to like Ways of Escape but after the midway point that's all I could hope for was a way to escape this Mel Tillis meets Neil Young gone indie band of hippies. While I've obviously painted a pretty grim picture, the band does have some redeeming features on this album. "Rev War," and "A Good Day To Die," for example, offer glimmers of hope here and there, but the record for the most part just gets bogged down with what seemingly sounds like them trying so hard to be a band dressed in corduroy, singing tales of woe, and seeing America the old fashioned way that it almost becomes a bit cliche. If they ever clear out the cliche's there could very well be a band under it all that wants to rock...they've certainly hinted at it and I hope that they tap into that. I mean even Neil Young wanted to rock in the free world...lets hope the Great Lakes want to as well.
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