Album Review: The End Machine - The End Machine

George Lynch has been rather busy lately, and no matter how many records I hear with him as a player, I don't get why he's supposed to be a legendary figure. I suppose I had to be there in the 80s to get it, but he sounds like everyone else from that time period to me. The End Machine is his latest attempt to get a non-Dokken band up and running, this time featuring the rest of that band's classic lineup, along with singer Robert Mason, who currently fronts Warrant. So yes, this is rooted in hair metal, although it's filtered through a grunge aesthetic.

I was rather intrigued by the first single, "Alive Today", which caught my attention as the sort of song that fits between what radio rock was in the glory days, and what it is now. The guitars have more space and nuance to them than the simple chugging we get most of the time today, but the vibe and melody is darker than we got from the 80s. It's a wonderful blend of the past and present, and already put this project ahead of KXM or Sweet & Lynch, for me.

The rest of the album tries to fit into that same vibe, but the melodies aren't quite as sticky as that first impression. Mason is a capable singer, but his writing is too caught up in the past, where simple gang chants were the norm, and more developed melodies were harder to come by. There are some of those on the record, "Ride It" being the worst example, and that's when I feel the band is at their best. It's on tracks like "Ride It" that I grow less interested, as the rehashing of the past is more apparent, and the ideas in the song aren't strong enough to cut through space and time.

I don't want to sound too harsh, because I do actually like the record. There's enough in it that reminds me of the time when I was starting to listen to music that I can feel some of the pull towards it that those a generation older than me will feel more intensely. I imagine anyone who was a Dokken fan all those years ago will be jumping for joy over this record, since I have to imagine Dokken itself couldn't make anything that sounded this good, if for no other reason than Mason's vocals being so much stronger at this point.

The run through the back half of the record, with "Hard Road", "Alive Today", "Line Of Division", and the closing "Life Is Love Is Music" is a strong statement, with each song delivering muscular, hooky hard rock. As the songs keep coming, the band's focus becomes clearer, and I find myself really enjoying what they are offering. There are a couple of songs at the beginning of the record which are a bit weak, and their placement doesn't help matters, but they are redeemed as the record moves along.

I didn't go into this record knowing what to expect, given that I don't have much affection for anything these guys have done before. That said, it makes it more impressive they were able to win me over by the time the record was over. The End Machine does well for themselves here.