Personnel includes: Zakk Wylde (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, bass); John "J.D." DeServio, James Lomenzo (bass); Craig Nunenmacher, John Tempesta (drums).
Recorded at Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, California.
Black Label Society: Zakk Wylde (bass instrument).
Personnel: Zakk Wylde (vocals, guitar, piano); John Tempesta, Craig Nunemacher (drums).
Additional personnel: James LoMenzo, John DeServio, Mike Inez (bass instrument); John Tempesta, Craig Nunemacher.
Audio Mixers: Zakk Wylde; Barry Conley; Eddie Mapp .
Recording information: Ameraycan Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Cartee Day Studios, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Neil Zlozower.
Alice in Chains' shadow has grown longer as post-grunge settles into homogeny. Every outfit from Godsmack to Soil claims them as an influence; Staind's Aaron Lewis even wrote "Layne" in tribute to the band's departed frontman. Zakk Wylde throws his own goatee into that ring with Black Label Society's Hangover Music, Vol. 6, a largely acoustic album that recalls both Jar of Flies and Wylde's own Book of Shadows. He handles vocals, piano, and acoustic duties himself, also contributing the occasional display of electric guitar wizardry just to remind listeners of where he came from. Ozzy's influence looms at least as large as Alice in Chains -- he and his family are thanked prominently in the liner notes, and material like the ballad "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" sounds like it could have been written for him. (Wylde also offers his own tribute to Staley, also called "Layne.") Hangover Music's restraint is admirable, considering Wylde's fretboard prowess; in fact, the album's pretty damn mellow. "Won't Find It Here" cops the melody from U2's "One," while standouts "Crazy or High" and "Queen of Sorrow" feature wails from Wylde's electric over Southern rock-influenced acoustic licks and a rhythm section that includes Crowbar drummer Craig Nunenmacher. "Takillya (Estyabon)" is a brief burst of acoustic fretboard magic, and the piano-led "Woman Don't Cry" finds Wylde shelving his normally tortured moan in favor of a heartfelt croon comparable to Axl Rose on G N' R Lies. It makes the track one of the album's highlights, since Wylde's vocals on the majority of Hangover Music suggest he's a much better guitar player than he is a singer. Still, fans eager for fiery guitar work will enjoy "House of Doom," which joins the lighter "No Other" as the most obvious Alice in Chains tributes (barring "Layne," of course). Hangover Music, Vol. 6 also includes an earnest, solo piano version of the Procol Harum classic rock radio fave "Whiter Shade of Pale." ~ Johnny Loftus
Zakk Wylde is among a rare breed of guitar heroes, an iconic role that, by the time of this release in 2004, had all but disappeared from hard rock. Not simply content with sideman status (as a veteran of the Ozzy Osbourne band), Wylde uses Black Label Society to channel his songwriting and his voice into a persona akin to a demonically possessed Bob Seger. For this volume of raunchy, Southern-tinged, blues-based hard rock, the approach is scaled back from his usual unforgiving style.
HANGOVER MUSIC VOL. 6 features songs predominantly built around acoustic guitar and piano. Fans of Wylde's soloing style will be blissfully sated; his overdriven, searing vibrato and screaming false harmonics are as omnipresent as ever. Echoes of Alice in Chains ("Queen of Sorrow"), Zakk's mentor Ozzy ("Steppin' Stone"), and even his inaugural solo outfit, Pride & Glory, ring out clearly here. A gut-wrenching treatment of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" rounds out the modestly produced, solid set. minimize