This is a big return from
D.O.A., but it's also going to be an adjustment for older fans to get into, and many will likely find it not worth the effort. A mild surprise, they've traded straight-ahead punk for punk-edged, big time rock, the kind they alone are capable of, and they can really spit the juices out of these live. It's real good in places, though your tolerance for AOR radio rock, even the good kind, might be limited -- though the references for this run closer to
Bachman-Turner Overdrive (whom
D.O.A. has covered live) and
Steppenwolf (likewise, in a side band), or
the Guess Who and
Grand Funk Railroad. Still, if you’ve come looking for "I'm Right You’re Wrong" or "The Enemy," let alone "001 Losers Club," you won't find it here. This band has moved on a little ways from the alternative scene -- strange, not only for them, but this label -- and they're quite great at it, so now it's only a matter of your tolerance/taste. You decide. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover