Dead Moon - "Dead Ahead"

By Eric Geevers - January '04

This review gives you a short impression of the upcoming Dead Moon album.
Or rather my impression of it, cos it's all just my point of view, not objective at all, and references to other Dead Moon songs may not necessarily make sense to others than myself.

I think Dead Moon are fucking awesome.  I also think they've made another brilliant album.
Yes, I have used these same words when (p)reviewing "Destination X", but hey - I simply feel that they have, and that 'brilliant' is the right word!

The tape Fred has given me has a little bit of 'phasing' in the first song, which probably will not appear on the album when it's in the shops. Might be a fault in my casette player, too. Anyway let's take it song by song...

Side One:

"Signs Of Departure "
A firm drum roll from Andrew launches us into the first song, the atmosphere reminding me of some raw early songs; a steady riff that carries the whole song, two-part harmonies in the chorus... all right!

"One World "
Musically, it's in the "It's OK"/"Point Of No Return" vein, which means: standard Dead Moon quality indeed. The anthemic chorus gives this song the 'extra' that can turn this into another live favourite!

"An Occupation With You "
If you like songs like "You Can't Do That", like I do, my guess is that you will love this one as well. Toody drops in a nice melodic bassline here! It's the 'title track' of the album so to speak ('dead ahead is the road I take') ending in what I call a 'question mark chord'. Fine stuff.

"Dawning of The Dead "
A song we know from live shows - the "do you really want to know" chorus settles in the mind immediately. Some typical Fred Cole chords that you won't easily find in any 'how to play guitar' book, but that make a great riff. And one of the best songs on this album, if you ask me. Ha!

"Already Gone.."
The slow and menacing type of song, with heartbeat bassdrum. Also one that's been tested on stage. A two-chord guitar riff, and again a melodic bass line, with Freds vocal circling around it, and Toody joining in for the chorus... can't go wrong.

"War Is Blind "
Mid-tempo, double-string-bending guitar riff, massive drums, fine chorus... and yet some critics will say "so what's new". All right, but still it's another good new Dead Moon song, - and that in itself is good enough for me!

Side Two:

"Go My Way "
Toody taking lead vocals for another song that qualifies as 'one of the best on the album'. How to explain? It's simply a wonderful song - if it wasn't recorded by Dead Moon one could even use the phrase 'pop song'... Remember 'Jane'?

"On and On"
Equally beautiful, I must say, - with Fred taking lead vocal again. If you only dig the scorching up-tempo songs, this isn't your cup of tea. Personally, I could make myself a compilation tape of this type of Dead Moon songs, and really enjoy it over and over again!

"The 99's "
So you prefer the up-tempo songs? OK! With lead vocals by Toody, in my opinion this one rates as high as 'Running Scared'. All in all this album keeps growing with every song...!

"All Sold Out"
Starting off with a bass line for a change, a reflecting mid-tempo song... Andrew does a nice Charlie Watts here, which means 'not hitting the hi-hat when you hit the snare', basically :-)

"In The Waiting"
Hey, we haven't heard a tremolo on the guitar for a while, but here it is! Toody sings lead, and another great song to finish the album (in a relatively rare fade-out). I'm running out of adjectives after so many good songs - in fact there's not a bad one as far as I can see - but the overall conclusion is: let's hope the album hits the street soon, 'cos Dead Moon fans can't go wrong buying this one - I'm certain of that!

I hope to hear all these songs, or at least a good deal of them, played live at the upcoming shows...!