Review of Poverty's No Crime - The Chemical Chaos

POVERTY'S NO CRIME!!!!! Fucking excellent name for a band. I am going to start a gore metal act called Fiscal Responsibility Makes For Positive Long Term Prosperity \m/ \m/

Happy proggy power! Hey, now, yeah! Why didn't this stuff die when Styx broke up? The appeal has to be the same as the appeal of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It seems like hard science fiction, and if you never think about it, it is hard science fiction. But then you do start thinking about it and it loses it's edge as you realise all that "hard science" are simple plot devices that anyone with a rudimentary understanding of the cosmos can see through easily. Yet there it was, burning up the ratings. At that point you started to wonder about the intellectual well being of gross humanity.

Such is the appeal of proggy power. It's really just Survivor with better musicianship. OK, much better musicianship. But to what end? Washed up REO Speedwagon songs played by Yngwie Malmsteen. Thanks, can't get enough of that.

But I know you bastards are lurking out there, somewhere, wanting to know how this Happy Proggy Power band stacks up to your other favorite trainwrecks. The answer: not bad. The main reason for this - and here is where those of you familiar with my personality might just want to sit down - is the SINGER. I swear to fucking jesus in my colon. This gentleman has pipes, but he doesn't fuck around with pretend dramatics or artificial emotional emphasis... at least in the main. He can go into the Geoff Tate school of vocal theory from time to time, but at least he seems to get that his voice is as good as it needs to be without it. EVERY PROGPOWERANACHRO SINGER PAY ATTENTION.

You can't be a proggypower band without being good muscians, and these guys are good. Tasteful, apart from the keyboardist, who gets a bit annoying when he is walking all over the lyrics. And technically proficient, as you would expect. The only thing you can hold against them in this department is that they never really just cut loose and destroy, but you can hear it in them. Frustrating. This is part of what makes them sound like a lame 70/80's outfit.

The other reason is simply that they are playing songs that sound like they were written by Kansas or something. Oddly, they do have this strange ability to bring the songs back from the dreary Classic Rock Station precipice before they fall all the way over. They manage, time and time again to inject just enough OOMPH to keep this stuff above the mediocre. This is why you PowerProggy Sheila's out there might really be able to sink your teeth into these guys.

The production is a little too staid, another culprit dragging the band down. It's clear and clean, but it could really stand some dirt. Something to help find the edge the band lacks so much of the time. The guitars are nice and loud, though, which certainly helps. The mix is about perfect, each instrument getting it's place at the table.

Bottom line: this is a nice enough record, but it frustrates because you can hear a band that could make a fucking devastating record ... but don't. There is plenty to admire about this outfit, and you Nancy-assed lovers of the form should be licking your chops, but for the larger metalhead audience this is too tame and lightweight to really reccomend. Use at your own risk.

Release Details

Poverty's No Crime

The Chemical Chaos

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