Mr T experience go to prison (Alcatraz - Mr. T Experience)

Member Name: kylecoare

Product:	Alcatraz - Mr. T Experience
Date:	12/03/04 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great poppy moments, some rocking tracks, fantastic vocals by Frank.

Disadvantages: Unknown to most music fans.

MR T EXPERIENCE - ALCATRAZ
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Oh No, not another Mr T Experience review, i can hear you all grumbling to yourselves in front of your computers, well yep i'm sorry as i have stated on more occasions than i care to look at this is my favourite band.

Anyone that has read my previous reviews of the band should know a little about them now, but for the rest of you heres a bit of history.
For a longer history review please read my op titled 'everyones entitled to their own opinion'

Mr T Experience, were formed in the early to mid eighties, at the time their style of poppy punk rock was a bit strange as most punks wouldn't touch pop music with a ten foot barge pole, but MTX on the other hand embraced it with open arms and invited it to stay for dinner, thus forming the unique sound of MTX and most of todays punk music.

MTX are led by frontman Dr Frank, who writes all the lyrics and has a voice which is hard to describe, but works absolutely perfectly with the sound that the band plays.
Frank is the only member that has stayed from the early days, since their have been a fair few members join the ranks then leave, my personal best line up was involved in three albums, and this is the last of those.
To find out about the other two read my ops on 'Love is dead' an 'Revenge is sweet, and so are you'

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The main members on this album were,

Dr Frank - Singer, songwriter.
Jym - Drums.
Joel - Bass, vocals

also involved in the recording were

Gabe - Organ , piano, arp.
Eric - Organ.

These two have since joined the band full time following the departure of Joel.

The album, like most released on Lookout records, was produced by Kevin Army, a genius when it comes to making albums sound good. This guy has a good talent for producing albums which sound fairly polished,
but still have that live raw sound.

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The previous albums have all been fairly straightforward pop punk efforts, although much better than most other bands of the same genre, but the band did get a few bad reviews due to their sound being a bit samey, what has this got to do with this album?

Well this album shows everyone just what the band can do, when they change their sound a little, this isn't a straight forward pop punk album, this is more of a pop album, with rock elements.

The album came out a few months after Dr Franks solo album, which was a very slow but good album, with lots of acoustic songs and country type tunes, this album takes that idea and gives it to a punk band to mess around with, and here are the resulting tracks.

the first track 'I wrote a book about rock and roll' opens up procedures with an interesting tale about a snobbish rock journalist, who thinks he is more important than the bands that he is writing about. The first thing that hits you with this song is how different it is to MTX's last album, the sound is clearer and slower, its less about thrashy walls of sound, and more about adding more melody.
Which really adds an extra dimension to the band, even though they have always offered a lot of melody, this is easier to listen to.
The song is full of different instruments, there are acoustic guitars and organs and it shows how talented the band actually are.
The vocals as usual are great, with Frank offering some nice lines.

After this we get a more rocking track in the form of 'Naomi', and the electric guitars are out again! but again, they don't have the same punky sound of previous albums, this is much better structured.
Again the band shows a lot of talent on this tune, with some perfectly placed sounds and backing vocals.
The song is very catchy, with a nice riff backing up the main song.

The
next song ' self pity' is a fairly striped down track compared with the openers, with just a simple guitar riff and drums. This brings Franks vocals more to the front, and as usual this helps the track.
There are a few nice guitar solo's during the song, but not your cheesy 80's hair band type, these really fit with the song.

'Hey Emily' is the next song, this is a slow 60's style pop tune, with some sad sounding vocals from Frank, which is another difference from the last albums, the album has a more downbeat sound to it, but this doesn't make it any worse, in fact it offers a different side to the band, and gives Frank the chance to really show his vocal prowess.
This is one of the best pop tunes that hasn't made the charts, it really offers a lot of nice moments.
As with the album on a whole a lot of the vocals offer more of a storyline than on previous albums, and really show how good Frank is getting as a songwriter.

After this we get the riff filled 'Tomorrow is a harsh mistress' the music has a hint of the rolling stones mixed with the Monkees but still having that distinctive MTX sound. This song has some really nice guitar riffs which are backed up by an organ and the great drum playing by Jym.

Next up we get 'Two of us', this is more like the early MTX albums, although still more striped down.
Starting with a slow spoken word vocal from frank the song kicks into a nice pop tune with some nice clever lyrics and a cool tune.
The music changes style a few times during the course of the song and it mixes really well.

'Our days are numbered', a nice rock and roll type sounding track, Another finely written track, again a fairly slow paced track with a rock and roll type guitar sound, the music is fairly drawn back leaving the vocals to take centre stage, which is great in my book.

Another fine slice of pop rock follows, with the song '
;Were not no one', this song starts with a nice organ and guitar riff, with some clever drumming holding it together. This has a very poppy chorus and some nice backing vocals adding to the overall pop sound.
Halfway through it starts to speed up a bit and changes sound a bit for the rest of the song, again this gives the song a bit more depth.

The next song 'Reactivate your heart' is one of the down points on the album, this doesn't really show the band at its best, while still a nice track it doesn't really shine like some of the other songs. Its a rocking number, with a simple effective riff, but it is a little boring. Not one to skip, but not one to top your playlist either.

Another nice slow track follows, 'Perhaps' is a country tinged song, the verses are nice with a simple strummed guitar in the background.
The verse leads to a really good chorus which will get you humming along.
Again a big difference from the previous albums, and as with the whole album you will keep hearing different things each time you listen, there are so many little layers to each song, with some nicely played piano and lots of other instruments and sounds.

Standout track 'Shes my Alcatraz' is next, and a cool little number it is too, with some surfy guitar playing. The vocals really shine on this, both Franks and the backing vocals from Joel.
The song has a real feel good mood to it, which really sounds good after the more downbeat songs that fill a lot of the album.
A very simple tune, without a lot of extra sounds, this is very stripped down compared with previous songs, but it really brings the vocals to the fore.

'I feel for you' this is a strange 50's style song, with some nice guitar solos and kicking drums.
The vocals at first sound a bit of a let down, but after a listen or two you'll be amazed at how he fits some of his verses together.
Not one of the bands best
songs but still a good effort.

The album ends with 'Well get by'. This is a fairly good song, again not as good as some of the previous songs but not bad, the chorus is a bit irritating, which really puts this song down a bit, because the verses are actually really good.
Another simple guitar riff holds it all together, but again its all about the vocals and apart from the chorus this does its job as usual.

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So after years of playing pop punk Mr T Experience have started to turn down the guitars a little and have added a whole new dimension to their sound, but do i like it?
Of course i do, it adds a different level to their sound which after a few listens really grabs you.
But as a fan of their older stuff this does lack a bit of the energy of the previous albums, but that is more than made up for with the more grown up sound.
I still prefer 'Revenge is sweet, and so are you' but this does come very close to taking the mantle as best Mr T Experience album.

The newest album has just been released a few weeks ago, so expect a review soon! Oh and its pretty damn good!

This should be available from most record stores, or you can order on line from the lookout records web site at a cheaper price, but shipping does take a while.

www.lookoutrecords.com

Thanks for reading, please leave any comments you may have.
Kyle.

Summary: