Known for his work with
Everlast and others who have been associated with
Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate operation,
Bob Khalil, aka
Bronx Style Bob, is generally considered a West Coast hip-hopper. But in fact, some of his work has been outside of hip-hop altogether. You won't hear a trace of hip-hop influence on this debut album by
Super 8, an L.A. band that
Bronx Style sang lead for in the '90s. This disc falls somewhere between the soul-minded retro-rock of
Lenny Kravitz and the Seattle grunge of
Pearl Jam and
Stone Temple Pilots. Though some of the songs are fairly psychedelia-influenced (especially "Railroad" and "Going Nowhere"), no one will mistake this CD for a late-'60s or early-'70s recording--
Rick Parashar's production techniques are very '90s, and
John O'Brien's guitar playing has '90s alternative rock written all over it. A generally decent and sometimes excellent illustration of
Bob's ability to function outside of a hip-hop setting,
Super 8 should have done well. But unfortunately, the CD fell through the cracks.