Simple Mind Condition

Here we have Trouble, after a long hiatus, taking once more to the skies of metal. A lot of complaints seem to be focused on how unlike every other album they've released this one is. Fat, doomy stomps from Psalm 9 and The Skull aren't present in abundance, nor are the stoner metal speed assaults of the self-titled Trouble, but neither those have been present really since the self-titled came out. Manic Frustration was a good album, no doubt, but a little too hard rock and not enough Doom/Stoner influence for my tastes. Plastic Green Head remedied this problem, but to unimpressive standards and resulted in an even weaker album. This album is a huge step up from PGH in that most of the songs have well-written sludgy stoner hooks, and are drenched in Eric Wagner's woe-is-me penmanship. Eric's singing has changed a good deal at this point, as he can sometimes pull off a scream reminiscent of the 90's era, but his cleaner voice is just as convincing as it's full of emotion. Tracks like Seven (the original title for the album) and If I Only Had A Reason are perfect examples of Trouble's rebirth into the 2000's. The album of course isn't without faults, namely in Ride The Sky, a Lucifer's Friend cover that I'm sure would have been great in Wagner's more formidable years, but just doesn't cut it at this point in the band's career. Closer, Beginning of Sorrows is another beautiful piece worthy of mention. Starting with a piano and Wagner's soulful lyrics, it then transforms into a Doom riff that begs your attention, and finally ends with the full band backed by piano full on breaking into a jam, thick laden with Wagner's poignant vocals. Overall, a very good album. Not a masterpiece, not a misstep in their career, rather a convincing album worthy of at least a listen. Those expecting the past will be disappointed, but those who will give the time to this album will find something to treasure in it.

Highlights: Seven, Simple Mind Condition, If I Only Had A Reason, Beginning Of Sorrows

I’m glad I wasn’t a fan of Trouble in 2007, because this album must have been the biggest disappointment of the year. After reuniting in 2002, Trouble announced that they were writing new material for another album and then apparently dicked around for five years because the damn thing never surfaced until 2007. So, you’d think that if you had five years to make an album, you could turn it into something exceptional, right? Well, maybe you could, but Trouble couldn’t. Not this time.

The songs on Simple Mind Machine are basically the two previous albums (Plastic Green Head and Manic Frustration) at half power. Instead of the slow, yet bumpy and catchy doom riffs and blazing solos from Plastic Green Head, we’re left with boring riffs that have no signature Trouble creativity, and truly half assed solos. Oh, and I hope you weren’t expecting something in the vein of their early albums, because there’s none of that here. The mundane opener, Goin’ Home makes no effort to grasp your attention. Sure, the bass is cool for the first thirty seconds, but that doesn’t excuse the boredom that is the remainder of the song. The riffs are too simple to captivate and the solo, which started out really cool, ended after twelve seconds. Eric Wagner’s vocals are still intact, but they’re actually fairly lame in comparison to earlier material. Unfortunately, this song speaks well for what the rest of the album holds. It’s surprising how aimless the tracks generally feel. They’re all around the same length, with only one song reaching over five minutes, and all sound very similar. The songs have little in them to distinguish themselves, and after a few tracks, it just becomes difficult to care anymore. To top it off, the production is so bland and modern that it robs any personality the songs might have had. There’s no potent atmospheres unlike Trouble’s classic debut, Psalm 9.

While none of the songs are abysmal within themselves, there’s also no redeeming factors that might make this more of an interesting experience. Now with Eric out of the band, who the hell knows what they’ll sound like next? Shouldn’t be hard to beat this.

Originally written for http://www.metal-observer.com

Man.

This is my all-time favorite live band. Living in southeastern Wisconsin has given me countless opportunities to drive down to Chicago to see every Trouble show I can. I have a fondness for every record they've released. Trouble is no less than legendary in my own mind. But, for the life of me, I can't figure out how such a great band can record a new cd after a 12-year wait and have it be SO bland and lifeless. This sounds more like a record that a band does at the end of a record deal when they're burned out and just don't care, not a comeback record to show they still have validity.

Only one song clocks in over 5 minutes, which doesn't have to be a problem. But you spend 2-3 minutes waiting for the songs to develop ideas and jump to another level and the songs just end, leaving you thinking they weren't done. They couldn't be. A song like "Ride in the Sky" at 2:46 just spins blandly and doesn't do ANYTHING. I'd like to be able to say that the song really kicks into gear at 2:46, but nope, it's over. Onto the next almost-song.

I don't want to rip on some of my favorite musicians of all-time, but this is seriously a terrible, terrible record. By old Trouble standards and by music standards.

The production doesn't have any weight. Instead of having your face ripped off by heaviness, you get a thin strand of guitar, with no bass thump to support it and vocals which just sound like an afterthought drawn over the top. Eric's vocal character is not in top form here. There's no energy and no heaviness. It's like ...And Justice For All in that the bass is undetectable.

Dammit. Not even one good song to heap praise on. There's no reason to go on a song-by-song review.

If you're a life-long Trouble fan, I think you'd be hard-pressed to disagree with me on this. What happened? If you're a new fan, don't start here because you won't dig any further.

When I heard that the new Trouble album is out I got very excited and looked to hear their new depressing yet energetic music. With the expectations set so high, it took approximately no more than 10 minutes of listening to the album to fall into disappointment.

I have listened to the first two albums of the band only – “Psalm 9” and “The Skull”. I don’t know what happened with the intervening albums. But what has changed in Trouble is that the music is more American than it used to be and more modern sounding with (probably) edited vocals. The modern sound may be accepted and is good actually. All songs are mid tempo and none can be regarded as catchy.

The guitars are tuned down too much to a stoner degree. The drums are plain. The rhythm keeps more or less the same line throughout the album. However, the king of the music is the lead guitar with generous participation in each song but sadly not enough to save them. The vocals are typical of stoner rock/metal but for me do not have as much feeling as the previous albums.

Simple Mind Condition is a definitely market based album which you won’t feel the need to listen to for the second time. I did. It still did not improve. To sum up, maybe this change in the band started long ago and I don’t know, or this is the dawn of failure for the band. This album can be considered a success for a new stoner rock/metal band, but truly nothing more than a shade on Trouble’s past.