LYNCH MOB
Wicked Sensation - Reimagined (30th Anniversary Edition)
Rat Pak Records - 2020
When the LYNCH MOB album Wicked Sensation was originally released in 1990, like many people I went out and bought the album (on a cassette no less). But unlike a lot of people, for some reason I found myself kind of unimpressed with the overall release.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the title cut and the song "River Of Love", but I just felt some kind of fundamental disconnect with the rest of the album. I ended up not listening to it much after those first few plays of the cassette and at some point, the album found its way out of my collection. I also ended up pretty much not following the band throughout the ensuing years and releases either.
So you might wonder why I decided to pick up this 30th anniversary reissue if I wasn't a fan of the original version. Well, truth be told, I hadn't planned on it. But I was at a friend's record shop one day and he put this "reimagined" version on and I have to say that I really enjoyed what I heard.
Maybe it is the simple passage of time, or the newly recorded/reimagined versions of these songs but I found that listening to this version of Wicked Sensation a most enjoyable experience.
If the heads up with the album's full title wasn't enough, when Oni Logan's vocals start off in the "Wicked Sensation" song, you can hear him acknowledge the 30th anniversary before the main portion of the track's lyrics start. The new version of this song has a deeper rhythmic and funky sound to it. Since I liked the song in its original incarnation, I was worried that I wouldn't like the re-do but this song really worked for me. It manages to keep itself a rock song while giving room to the new musical sounds that are incorporated.
The "River of Love" track also retains more of its rock originality but the decision to slow the song's pacing structure down gave it an extra dimension.
As I said, I did like the first two songs when the original was put out. So the album's remaining ten songs are where the make or break decisions are made for me.
The rocking "Sweet Sister Mercy" managed to get me humming along to the chorus, while the slow burn of "All I Want" provided a great vibe for itself. And I dug the solo too.
I didn't put a speed clock on any of the songs, but I thought "Hell Child" was the fastest moving song on the album and the gritty delivery of the vocals from Oni Logan (as well as on the album-closing "Street Fightin' Man") helped give the song a new life in my eyes (or should I say, to my ears).
I wasn't totally sold still on songs like "She's Evil But She's Mine" or "Rain". The former has a bit of an annoying drone to the lyrics of the chorus that struck me a bit unsatisfactory. As for "Rain", I don't know really, it just kind of fell flat with me.
But never fear, the album does close out strong. "Dance of the Dogs" and "For A Million Years" are straight up rock and roll representatives. There's a bit of a bounce to the musical delivery on "No Bed Of Roses" that I found rather endearing. Oh, and I can't forget the spare vocal and guitar of "Through These Eyes" ended up really hitting home with me for reasons unexplained but indeed quite welcome nonetheless.
If it is true that George Lynch is retiring the band name (his liner note thank yous mentions "future" LYNCH MOB bandmates), then the notion of going full circle back to the band's origins ends up being an inspired idea. When I first heard about this reimagined recording of the album, I scoffed at the idea. But as tends to happen when I dismiss something out of hand before actually hearing it, I have been proven wrong.
Wicked Sensation - Reimagined gives new spins to the original music and lets both longtime fans and newcomers alike enjoy some top notch rock and roll!
4.5 Out Of 5.0
