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| Monsters, Eigenvertrieb, 2009 |
| Robin Brock |
Lead & Background Vocals |
| Justin Abedin |
Guitars |
| John Capek |
All Instruments, Programming, Background Vocals |
| Rik Emmett |
Guitars (Two Words & Power It Through) |
| Danny Jacob |
Guitars |
| Mike Rocha |
Bass |
| Produziert von: John Capek |
Länge: 39 Min 42 Sek |
Medium: CD |
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| 1. Monsters | 6. Solitary Girl |
| 2. New Addiction | 7. Fuel |
| 3. Two Words | 8. Power It Through |
| 4. Master And Slave | 9. Warrior |
| 5. Seven Pieces | 10. The Witching Hour |
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Ich hatte Robin um den Text auf der Rückseite des Covers gebeten, weil der einige sehr interessante Einsichten in das Wie und Warum des neuen Albums gibt. Den habe ich nun unten eingefügt, plus Bild von ihr, so wie sie jetzt auf dem Album zu sehen ist. Ihre beiden ersten CDs werden hier in Kürze auch noch vorgestellt.
Da hat John Capek der Kanadierin Robin Brock, die Paul Stanley, Joe Lynn Turner, Don Dokken und natürlich HEARTs Ann Wilson als Sänger-Vorbilder nennt, auf ihrer dritten CD aber stellenweise eine wuchtige musikalisches Rüstung geschneidert. Heavy, treibende Drums, fetter Bass, moderne Gitarren und ein etwas zurückhaltender Gesang, der dennoch die stimmlichen Qualitäten von Ms. Brock erkennen lässt, verzieren den ersten Song Monsters - guter Anfang, wenngleich die solistischen Gitarrenbeiträge am Ende des Songs eher dem Begriff 'Geräusch' unterzuordnen sind.
Da das Album über mehrere Jahre hinweg gemacht wurde, ist der Sound nicht einheitlich so heavy, aber doch klar und gut produziert. Track 2, New Addiction, erinnert an Robert Plants Soloausflüg etwa auf "Now And Zen". Ein offen konstruierter Song, der zwar Rhythmusgitarre bietet, aber eher auf die Drums als treibende Rhythmuskraft setzt und die Gitarre sparsam einsetzt. Etwas lang vielleicht, aber gut.
Two Words, ein mit der Mithilfe von TRIUMPH-Mastermind Rik Emmett an der Gitarre entstandener, an die Musikindustrie gerichteter 'Ich-bin-von-diesem-Scheiß-enttäuscht'-Song (und um welche zwei Worte es sich handelt ist klar, aber Robin - raised as a Lady - sagt sie natürlich nicht), beginnt mit einem akustischen Intro und mündet in finstere Riffs beim Refrain.
Master And Slave kommt riffmäßig anfangs etwas 80er-like daher und ist insgesamt eher Girlgroup-Pop, auch wenn die Gitarre schön verzerrt jault. Nett.
Seven Pieces ist ebenfalls - genau wie später Fuel und Power It Through - vielleicht wieder näher an Plant, und wer "I told the Gods to kiss my ass, was on a path, heading fast..." singt, ist schon ganz egozentrisch drauf. Sie gibt aber zu, dass ihr das nicht gut bekommen ist: "I CRASHED; I CRASHED SO HARD I BROKE IN SEVEN PIECES". Songmäßig abwechslungsreicher Power-Pop, der Robins Stimme gut zur Geltung bringt.
Solitary Girl nimmt das Tempo etwas zurück und ist vielleicht der beste Song auf dem Album, das im Übrigen sehr persönlich geraten ist. Das Booklet gibt gut Auskunft über die Entstehungsgeschichte, den Grund für die Erstehung einzelner Songs vor Robins Lebenshintergrund (nett wäre, wenn die Texte in einem Font dargestellt wären, den man ohne Hunderter-Leselupe auch noch lesen könnte), der sich um einen Beinbruch, die anschließende Rekonvaleszenz, ihre Unzufriedenheit mit sich und der Musikindustrie, ihre Arbeit in den Wäldern Kanadas und ihr Songwriting zwischendurch dreht. Wenn man das so liest, nimmt man ihr die persönliche und musikalische Entwicklung, von der sie hier erzählt, durchaus ab.
Sie sieht sich als Warrior, was angemessen sein mag, der Song allerdings ist ein "waste of time". Und Witching Hour ist BLACK SABBATH-finster, vielleicht etwas bemüht. Da wollte jemand auch mal finster, scheint es.
Der Dame auf den Leib produziert ist das, ihrer Stimme angepasst, modern aufgestellt und ohne Manierismen (also kein Genöhle à la Nena etwa) - man hört vielleicht etwas Pat Benatar bei diesem weiblichen Robert Plant, aber ansonsten keine weiteren Vorbilder, kein Anbiedern an irgendwelche Moden, und auch keine Vokalsalti der Overkill-Sirenen-Art. Gute Sache, das hier, ein rundes, reifes Werk.
Songs zum Anhören finden sich unter dem Tab 'MUSIC' auf ihrer Seite, und die geben eine guten Eindruck von der CD. Einen Kauf könnte man durchaus in Betracht ziehen.
Robin Brocks Worte:
The making of this album was a labor of love for me. I began writing it when I was laid up after breaking my ankle in a mountain biking accident. I broke my ankle in 7 pieces, so I have pins and screws and hardware in it. During that process, I had a lot of time to reflect. I was dealing with a lot of things; not only the reality of healing a traumatic injury, but realizing I wasn't quite where I wanted to be in my career. I had just left my record company and was so angry, disillusioned, and disappointed, that I wasn't sure I even wanted to continue on in a business that insists women be 14 years old and a size 0. I was tired of all the crap, detours and dead ends; I was done. What was it all for? I had such a love/hate, master and slave relationship with writing by then, and I had been avoiding it like a plague. But the Universe had other plans for me. I had a non-weight bearing cast, and I was an accident waiting to happen on crutches. I was terrified of breaking my ankle again, so I was basically couch ridden for 7 weeks. I had a choice. It was either given in to the fog of the pain meds or find another way to purge the toxic motions. So I wrote. I wrote, and as I healed, I wrote some more. I was a solitary girl. Some of the ideas evolved into songs that are on this album, and some had too many bad words. Two words in particular. I had no thoughts of writing for an album; my only goal was to get back on my mountain bike to escape the monsters.
The week I got my cast off, the intense heat of the summer lit up the skies with lightning, and soon forest fires surrounded my home in the Interior of BC. With that, came opportunity, and the Universe sent the BC Forest Service to my door and a chance to work with them for the rest of the summer. I was already lost at that time, so what else did I have to lose? I worked many long hours and for the first time in a long time felt I was appreciated for the hard work I was putting into my job. In the music industry, if you aren't out on the road, you lose that applause, and why else do we musicians do what we do? With those long hours came a regular paycheque. Working with new people became a new way of gaining a fan base; I sold tons of cd's simply by word of mouth, and I gained fans just because they knew me and wanted to support my music. My job ended and winter came and as I returned to creativity, I realized, no matter how hard I had tried to give up being a performer and songwriter, it had been impossible. With all the long summer hours of using the non creative side of my brain for three straight months, my love for songwriting and my urge for the creativity to flow returned with a vengeance. But with the purging of my soul, came many wanted habits, and as I looked in the mirror, I was forced to admit I need a new addiction. So I wrote some more, and although I loved my time working for the Protection Branch of BCFS, I knew I was born to be a musician and writer. So what was I going to do with all these songs… what was I going to do next? I had to come up with a solution… I didn't want to be involved with another record label at that point. So the solution was to fund an album myself; but if I wanted to dedicate myself to music how in the hell was I going to do that? The next spring, I was at a bike race, and I got a phone call from my boss from the previous summer asking, "Did I want to go on deployment to a fire?" I thought about it for a second, and within an hour I was driving ten hours to smell the acrid smell of trees burning, with my duffel bag and a load of cd's for sale. The cycle continued for the next few years; working my ass off all summer and returning to Toronto to record in the winter. You'd think I could have chosen a warmer place to be than Toronto, but that was where John was. So as the songs created themselves, John and I would turn them into what they are now. Through the few years that it took to write and record these songs, life continued to happen around me. My Grandpa, and my Poppa passed away. I also lost my beloved Doberman Java, and one of my heroes, my Uncle Billy. I took all the grief and anger from the last few years and used it as fuel. I knew that if I wanted to come out on the other side of the nastiness, I had no other choice - I could be a victim or I could power it through. I fought and I came through the other side because I am a warrior. What you have in your hands is my resurrection. This is the witching hour, and as you listen, you will become a part of that journey too.
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