Okay, while there seems to be nine different versions of this record to choose from, I'll be discussing the "standard" version. Seriously, nine?!?! Even KISS isn't that brazen. While I was generally a fan of the debut, and I have no opinion about the line-up change, I am going to bet that this record sounds exactly like the last one. Maybe it's my Australian prejudice. Let's see...Starting off right, "California Queen" is a much faster upbeat rocker than the dirgy riff rockers of the past. Kind of like Deep Purple's "Burn". This upbeat-ness sticks around for the first single, "New Moon Rising", which verses are simply unaccompanied drums, which should serve the remixers with some easy tools to cross over the song to some non-stoners. Stand-outs are the near-"N.I.B." ripoff with "Sundial" and "Phoenix", which could have come out the Chickenfoot sessions.
The album has it's humdrum moments too, of course. The title track is an uninspired riff followed by the story of people in a town that "get up but don't get down". I know we're being retro but we can get a little more clever than that. I also didn't care for "Far Away", which is an uncharacteristic poppy keyboard almost-ballad. It sounds like a hit and they'd be smart to get it remixed MGMT-style and release it.
In the end, Wolfmother has some tasty riffage. But they'll never be a Led Zeppelin or a Black Sabbath. The songs certainly don't have the as interesting of structures, the leads aren't nearly as fluid and come of very deliberate and for God sake, Mr. Stockdale- you need to buy a book. Read it. But I'm just being mean now. What is true is that while your "bonus disc" may include 27 live tracks and b-sides, your album proper simply does NOT need to have 14 tracks. Throw away 5, have 9 strong ones, and you'll truly be retro, and a a lot more fun.
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