I came across this article at Louder Sound a few hours ago:
It's the best hard rock record since Appetite for Destruction - Scott Ian
Wow, that's high praise for an album. Then I read the article and he was talking about HIS new album. I'm an Anthrax fan, and no Anthrax album is better than Appetite for Destruction, even though Among the Living is close....
No, he's talking about his side project Motor Sister.
Uggh.
All right. I am going to close my eyes and listen to the new Motor Sister song "Can't Get High Enough" and then think of the first song it reminds me of:
Alright, here's my answer:
Motor Sister rocks as hard as Wrathchild America.
Listen, I understand that Ian is jazzed about playing music with his wife, and god bless 'em for that, but as I listened to the rest of the Motor Sister album, I realized that his side band is no better than a really, really good cover band.
And there's a niche for that. I just won't be listening to Motor Sister again, but I'm sure someone will. I used to love Anthrax, right up to Volume 8, then they slid into the abyss. Every great band is driven by a musical genius, but who was that in Anthrax? At the beginning, I would argue their genius was quiet guitarist Dan Spitz. After he departed, it was clearly Charlie Benante. Ian was the leader, but his playing never inspired a cult like following like Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. Ian was tenacious and hard charging, but not revolutionary.
Every side project Ian appears in, makes me realize more and more that Anthrax was special because they were bigger than the sum of their parts, not a lot of bands can say that. Their window of greatness was from 1984-1998 with Ian's contribution seemingly being his skill at keeping a rotating cast of musicians moving forward in the same direction.
You can say I'm a No-Talent Jerk, and that is more than a fair criticism, but I dare you to listen to that whole Motor Sister album. About 20 minutes in you'll be thinking, "now I know why the author was so angry."
Added 1 day later:
