1:
2:
3:
4: Skunkworks
5: Balls to Picasso
6: Tattooed Millionaire
Highest score: 6 (@Vaenyr @Spambot )
Lowest score: 1 (@Kalata @The Dissident @TheMercenary @Night Prowler @Confeos )
The black sheep albums always have a cult following and this album is no exception: it's the first to have any members rate it #1 and it placed in the upper half of the discography for a few other members. Bruce's foray into alternative rock is an interesting oddity and, if nothing else, is an interesting character study into his artistic motivations. Would he have stayed on this musical path if the album was a success, or was he trying to cash in by hiring the producer of Nirvana's first album and correctly jumping off the sinking ship of Metal? Or was he genuinely interested in this type of music? I think there's an element of both, personally. Since Skunkworks, Bruce has been all about Metal. But I think a lot of that is marketing. I can believe that he does have genuine interest in other types of music, but also understands that his audience largely isn't interested in that. He's an interesting guy and it's a fascinating thing to think about. It's rare that you get to hear an artist step out of their lane like Bruce did with Skunkworks, and it's always interesting when it happens - even if the results vary.
While not even in the same universe musically, I think of Skunkworks similarly to The X Factor. When I was younger getting into Metal, there were several "black sheep" albums by artists that were maligned/ignored upon release but have huge cult followings. Other albums from this era (usually 70s/80s bands trying to survive the 90s) include Van Halen 3, Carnival of Souls by Kiss, Waiting For the Punchline by Extreme, Jugulator by Judas Priest. These were albums that you had to dig through the used CD store to find, and it was often a treat to hear them because the music was so obscure compared to the popular works. Also interesting because these albums almost always contained a huge departure from the artist's normal sound.
Personally, I find Skunkworks to be a real mixed bag. The production and overall sound of the album is excellent. I always felt there was a pretty heavy Rush influence, particularly in the layered guitar playing. Big lush open chords and that power trio aesthetic of filling out the sound with guitars. It's a very well produced effort and aesthetically a huge step up from the previous albums. My criticisms, however, are not all that different from Balls to Picasso (minus production complaints about the latter). I still don't think Bruce sounds great, he does a serviceable job but ironically is sort of the weak link on this album. I think someone like Chris Cornell or Eddie Vedder could have delivered these parts in a more convincing way. I just don't think Bruce's vocal style really fits the music and he's also in an awkward place with his voice still. The other problem is I think this album has quite a bit of filler. Space Race and Back From the Edge are a fantastic 1-2 punch, but there are a lot of songs that are either straight up filler (Headswitch, Meltdown) and some songs that are pretty good but feel like half baked ideas (Solar Confinement, I Will Not Accept the Truth). If this was released in 1995 as a post grunge album by a no name artist, I think it would be considered a pretty good debut album but the best would probably be to come on the next album. It's too bad we never got Skunkworks 2, but I'm also not going to complain about what we actually got, obviously.
It's interesting to see Skunkworks gain popularity over the years. There's always some element of contrarianism probably, but I also think the album has a bunch of hidden gems and a lot of these 90s rock albums have aged very well, Skunkworks is no exception. Seeing this as the top rated album of the first three is about right, although I am still somewhat surprised that it beat out a Roy Z album, just because Balls is still at least in the Metal sphere.
2:
3:
4: Skunkworks
5: Balls to Picasso
6: Tattooed Millionaire
Highest score: 6 (@Vaenyr @Spambot )
Lowest score: 1 (@Kalata @The Dissident @TheMercenary @Night Prowler @Confeos )
The black sheep albums always have a cult following and this album is no exception: it's the first to have any members rate it #1 and it placed in the upper half of the discography for a few other members. Bruce's foray into alternative rock is an interesting oddity and, if nothing else, is an interesting character study into his artistic motivations. Would he have stayed on this musical path if the album was a success, or was he trying to cash in by hiring the producer of Nirvana's first album and correctly jumping off the sinking ship of Metal? Or was he genuinely interested in this type of music? I think there's an element of both, personally. Since Skunkworks, Bruce has been all about Metal. But I think a lot of that is marketing. I can believe that he does have genuine interest in other types of music, but also understands that his audience largely isn't interested in that. He's an interesting guy and it's a fascinating thing to think about. It's rare that you get to hear an artist step out of their lane like Bruce did with Skunkworks, and it's always interesting when it happens - even if the results vary.
While not even in the same universe musically, I think of Skunkworks similarly to The X Factor. When I was younger getting into Metal, there were several "black sheep" albums by artists that were maligned/ignored upon release but have huge cult followings. Other albums from this era (usually 70s/80s bands trying to survive the 90s) include Van Halen 3, Carnival of Souls by Kiss, Waiting For the Punchline by Extreme, Jugulator by Judas Priest. These were albums that you had to dig through the used CD store to find, and it was often a treat to hear them because the music was so obscure compared to the popular works. Also interesting because these albums almost always contained a huge departure from the artist's normal sound.
Personally, I find Skunkworks to be a real mixed bag. The production and overall sound of the album is excellent. I always felt there was a pretty heavy Rush influence, particularly in the layered guitar playing. Big lush open chords and that power trio aesthetic of filling out the sound with guitars. It's a very well produced effort and aesthetically a huge step up from the previous albums. My criticisms, however, are not all that different from Balls to Picasso (minus production complaints about the latter). I still don't think Bruce sounds great, he does a serviceable job but ironically is sort of the weak link on this album. I think someone like Chris Cornell or Eddie Vedder could have delivered these parts in a more convincing way. I just don't think Bruce's vocal style really fits the music and he's also in an awkward place with his voice still. The other problem is I think this album has quite a bit of filler. Space Race and Back From the Edge are a fantastic 1-2 punch, but there are a lot of songs that are either straight up filler (Headswitch, Meltdown) and some songs that are pretty good but feel like half baked ideas (Solar Confinement, I Will Not Accept the Truth). If this was released in 1995 as a post grunge album by a no name artist, I think it would be considered a pretty good debut album but the best would probably be to come on the next album. It's too bad we never got Skunkworks 2, but I'm also not going to complain about what we actually got, obviously.
It's interesting to see Skunkworks gain popularity over the years. There's always some element of contrarianism probably, but I also think the album has a bunch of hidden gems and a lot of these 90s rock albums have aged very well, Skunkworks is no exception. Seeing this as the top rated album of the first three is about right, although I am still somewhat surprised that it beat out a Roy Z album, just because Balls is still at least in the Metal sphere.
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