Love Grenade

With all of Ted's recent public episodes in which he keeps insisting on hammering home the whole "Guns, God and Country" ideal, he alone personifies everything that is wrong with how the rest of the world perceives the average American. Patriotism is fine but with his insistent flag waving in one hand and a loaded weapon in the other, he does absolutely nothing to help quell the stereotypical American character in the eyes of the rest of the world. It's downright surprising that such a strong supporter of the Bush administration and a staunch right wing conservative would campaign so strongly for the right to bear arms and have such an overall "fuck you" attitude towards the rest of the world. I have grown very tired of him and others like him, as they are not what America is all about. For some strange reason, God seems to be an American in the eyes of these individuals; further adding fuel to the fire in the current clash of cultures that has ignited worldwide since 911, the war on terrorism and the U.S. involvement in Iraq. I used to be a huge Ted Nugent fan back in the late 70's to early 80's but lost interest later in the 80's and 90's especially the Damn Yankees project with Tommy Shaw from Styx and Jack Blades from Night Ranger. When this CD arrived, a wry smile appeared on my face because maybe, just maybe, I might be able to finally get some revenge by ripping this CD a new asshole (if indeed it did deserve it) and then could, with conviction, tell Ted that he needs to stick to being a musician and stay out of the political arena. But, as hard as I tried to hate this new CD, I couldn't...for this my friends is simply the best thing Ted Nugent has done since his last great album, Scream Dream way back in the late 70's.

With his last CD Craveman, released a few years back, Ted seemed to be getting back on track after a series of duds. Although it had a more "modern" edge with some of the vocals and detuned guitars, it was a lot harder sounding than anything he had done in years. With Love Grenade, Ted employs the services of Tommy Clufetos, drums, Barry Sparks, bass and also old friend Jack Blades who plays bass on a few tracks in a "back to the roots" sort of album that is a throwback to the Free For All, Cat Scratch Fever, State Of Shock, Weekend Warrior and Scream Dream sort of sound that catapulted him into the spotlight of the hard rock arena. The title track's bluesy slide guitar main riff kicks off the album and it's a solid and catchy, simple riff driven hard rock anthem with the sort of fist pumping Kiss-like chorus that was such a staple of 70's "stadium rock". Ted manages to kick some serious ass with Still Raising Hell, a double bass fuelled hard driving boogie rock extravaganza that is easily Ted's best song in years. The tongue-in-cheek humour of Ted is front and center with Funk U and Girl Scout Cookies. Funk U is a speedy rocker about learnin' life's lessons through music and not the higher institutions of intellect like the colleges and universities. Besides, how else can you get away with screaming "Funk U!!" at the top of your lungs countless times, have it sound like "Fuck You!!" and get away with it. Girl Scout Cookies uses a slow boogie riff with some deeper Frank Zappa inspired vocals to produce a hilarious track that is full of double meanings and innuendos.

Ted Nugent got his start in the music business by being a member of the Amboy Dukes, a one hit wonder from the 60's that scored big with their hit song Journey To The Center Of The Mind. With Love Grenade, Ted has included a new "heavied" up version of the classic track that sounds great and definitely benefits from the new "facelift" of sorts. The plight of the Native Americans is the subject matter for the quartet of songs including Geronimo And Me, Eagle Brother, Spirit Of The Buffalo and Aborigine. Geronimo And Me features fast boogie riffing and a great bluesy lead break that leads into the instrumental Eagle Brother. This one's a great companion piece to Geronimo And Me with a very psychedelic sound complete with guitar tremolo effects and other noises. Spirit Of The Buffalo uses traditional native themes and tribal melodies while Aborigine is a rip-your-face-off, speedy, punkish rocker that reminds me of Ted's Wango Tango era of the late 70's. Things get back on track to more classic sounding Ted Nugent with Stand, Broadside and Bridge Over Troubled Daughters with more of a mid tempo approach. Ted gets very political with Stand, slamming people like Senator Edward Kennedy and overall, announces quite plainly that he's American and everyone else can kiss his ass!! The album closes with a great blues jam Lay With Me that features Jack Blades on bass. With minimal lyrics, Ted absolutely shreds on this track and is one of many instances throughout this album where we are reminded of just how great a guitar player he really is.

Wow...this album really was a big surprise. I've been playing this CD constantly over the last couple of weeks and have let a few other Ted Nugent fans hear it and the general consensus is that is simply a great Ted Nugent album. He hasn't sounded this good in over 20 years. The devious and slightly twisted sense of humour is back as well as some good old barn burning rock and roll that he used to fire out with regularity back in the 70's. I can't recommend this CD enough to fans of Ted's especially if you've written him off (like I had) as a has-been. I'm willing to look the other way when it comes to his political views and obnoxious outspokenness if he keeps putting out material like this. Unfortunately, he keeps putting his foot in his mouth and sabotages his career. He plays live constantly but because of his extreme flag-waving patriotism, the only place he has a real audience is in the U.S. We all need to learn and practice tolerance in our daily lives and Ted could certainly use a little more of that himself. Tolerance will go a long way in solving a lot of the world's problems and it all has to start somewhere. If I hadn't been able to put aside my personal issues with Ted, it would have been impossible to give this CD the type of objective review that it deserves and I would have missed out on a real gem.