This was also about the same time that Classic Rock was crusading for acts like Rose Hill Drive and Roadstar, both of whom I've seen live. I feel it was a time and place where rock music was seen as somewhat moribund, lost in the dregs of nu-metal, neo-grunge and the flowering of chirpy indie that all occurred when I was at university. It is understandable that CR went to bat for the new generation, but I only recall with any clarity two bands from that era whose live act left an impression on me - Airbourne and the Answer.
I actually got to see the Answer at the height of that initial buzz, probably right around the time that Rise was being released. They played a club in Exeter called the Cavern (where I also saw Wednesday 13 and My Ruin, among others), and it was wild. Never before had the demographic skewed so much older, but neither had it ever been quite so rammed. And the Answer? Yeah, great. Star of the show was singer Cormac Neeson; experiencing that much lungpower in close proximity was quite something.
Review: I must confess, I haven't listened to Rise much over the years. Half the point of this blog was that I actually delve through my CD collection anew, and indeed, I really did anticipate a quality of 'newness' to the music purely due to my neglect. And is there? Yes and no. On one level, yeah, I don't recall much of Rise save for lead track 'Under the Sky' and 'Memphis Water'. On another level, it's entirely familiar because the music on Rise cleaves so tightly to all the tropes and cliches of that most conservative of genres, rock music.
The cynic in me wonders whether the Answer boys set out, a la Def Leppard or the Cult, to make an album that plays well in big live arenas. The tempos are played straight, the riffs are big and meaty, and we never really stray far from the minor pentatonic scale. At all. Consequently every move feels awfully telegraphed, even if the execution is all of a relatively high standard. This is a problem. Go back and listen to first-run 'classic' rock bands and you'll hear a surprising amount of variety; an easy example to highlight would be ZZ Top, twisting Texas boogie-rock into something weird and wonderful, but even the unfairly-maligned Lynyrd Skynyrd have albums full of unexpected touches. These elements, when stacked alongside more straightforward adherences, are what give those bands and their music spice and interest.
Unfortunately, the Answer, at least on Rise, seem to think the juice is found in the other appurtenances of hard rock - volume, bluster, power chords and guitar solos. All of these things are cool, damn cool, but if you build a band solely from these breezeblocks you get Bad Company. Even then, Paul Rodgers might wander off and write a song about a fucking seagull, which would be a blessed relief on Rise. I'm not asking for Captain Beefheart, but the lyrics are some of the limpest I've yet encountered when reviewing albums. Calling them 'cookie cutter' does them a disservice, because cookies are enjoyable - here, we have the most watery, milquetoast sops to songcraft imaginable. I don't even know what half of these songs mean - 'Come Follow Me', eh? Where to? Jonestown?
Which brings me on to 'Memphis Water' - recall that I remembered this song? It wasn't for very good reasons. Quelle surprise, it starts off as a blues shuffle, because of course a song called 'Memphis Water' would. However, my biggest beef is that this lump-de-dump nonsense earned its title much in the same way that Kentucky Fried Chicken's Kansas BBQ Bites earned theirs. In both cases it's a vague groping towards authenticity; KC does indeed have a reputation where good BBQ can be had, and Memphis is steeped in the blues. However, there's a huge difference between experiencing Cowtown BBQ in person versus a side-order to your Zinger Tower Meal from Newhaven KFC, and likewise, the desultory word-associative babble of 'Memphis Water' resembles B.B. King as much as I resemble Bebe Neuwirth. (NB: I've been to Kansas City, Memphis and Newhaven, but that's neither here nor there.)
Oh, and this is mid-2000s hard rock, so the loudness levels are pushed way past their peaks, which hardly evokes the likes of Sleepy John Estes. Metallica's Death Magnetic and Rush's Vapor Trails are both bigger culprits where clipping is concerned, but this bad boy is a pretty painful listen at times too.
What a shame. I feel that the Answer are a good, serviceable band let down by material that isn't so much poor as it is too, too safe. It's focus-grouped hard rock, and in the live environment that is sometimes fine, advantageous even. Hell, in the intro I hinted that the Answer are a good time in the flesh, and perhaps that's sufficient. Alas, the overall effect of Rise is like being bludgeoned over the head by your most boring relative. I probably won't listen to this again in a hurry.
