John 5 is single-handedly adjusting the expectations in the guitar virtuoso genre, and he’s doing it not by excelling at the conventional standard for what that label implies, but by widening the horizon of what can be included within it.
For decades now, we’ve struggled under the yoke of irrepressible and persnickety guitar players, who bridle at anything less than complete adulation and attempt to prove their mettle only through a dazzling display of six-string histrionics. The entire virtuoso genre, if it can be called such, has grown stale with unceasing displays of…well, virtuosity.
Enter into this staid mix John 5, a man in makeup who has built his reputation playing with first Marilyn Manson and then Rob Zombie, and while both are beloved, neither demands the full exertion of John’s musical acumen.
Yet here we are, as John 5 & The Creatures release another album “Invasion” unto the teeming mass of expectation. And what makes the album work, and by extension what makes John 5 and his band work, is that this is not just another display of self-important pomposity.
First off, a moment dedicated to The Creatures. More than mere session musicians who can provide some simple background rhythm for John to play over, The Creatures are an inimitable part of the experience. Much in the way that Larry LaLonde and Tim Alexander are the secret ingredients that make Primus work, so too are the Creatures to John 5. Drummer Logan Miles Nix whips back and forth between cadences and off-kilter beats for “Zoinks!” and in some ways his transitions are so abrupt but so perfect as to break one song down into a series of collected vignettes.
Ian Ross on bass…makes me never want to play my bass again, for I know I can never achieve his level. He is such a capable backbone to everything going on in the lead that he can fill both the rhythm and bass roles, thus allowing John’s theatrics to blossom.
Part of the formula here that I think many people miss when evaluating John 5 is that the secret to his solo project’s success is that John is first and foremost a songwriter, having penned tunes for everyone from Rod Stewart to Garbage to Ricky Martin. This, when coupled with his own personal background in country music, lends him the versatility to be able to write not just compelling solos, but compelling songs.
The best example of this is “Howdy,” which ignorant fans will overlook because they are seeking another heavy metal track, but is the album’s best single offering. In the fashion of the great Jerry Reed riffs of old, this song has a little bit of everything. There’s a time-stamped beat, a richly layered melody, a banjo, and some good-old-fashioned-staccato-picking that feels like a lost art. You can’t help but smile when you hear this song, even as it experiments with small pieces of electronic sampling and harmonic interludes. It flies by at just over three minutes and serves as a break between the two metal halves of the album.
Toward the end, we see John experiment again, this time with some funk overlays for the aptly named “I Like the Funk” like we haven’t seen him use before, and ends up giving the song just a touch of Bruno Mars vibe in the breakdowns. The fact that John and company can fold this so seamlessly into a more traditional rock framework speaks only to their ability as musicians.
Not everything here is as unilaterally awesome as it was for “Season of the Witch,” though. John and The Creatures try to move on into a few offshoots that, while ambitious, don’t yield a ton of results. In particular, the album is dotted by vocal sampling that feels disjointed and superfluous. Even “Howdy,” the album’s best cut, didn’t need a track of a woman yelling “Howdy,” and “I Like The Funk” suffers from a similar malady. The worst offender in this case is “I Am John 5,” which repeats that sentiment over and over, and actually distracts from the music, which is the reason we’re here. With all respect, we already know you’re John 5.
But! Don’t let that dissuade you. This album has highlights from one end to the other, and is the third straight home run hit by John 5 & The Creatures. One of the rare albums this year that is borne and best enjoyed through a pure love for music.
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