Bad Bad Feeling is a track that touches upon a lengthy tradition in music, expressing infidelity and raw emotion alongside a similarly responsive set of arrangements. Don’t Want No Woman is a fiery and multi-faceted effort, topped off by smooth and radio-friendly vocals. The production on Badlands allows for each constituent act of Trampled Under Foot to shine, creating a bouncy order out of a disparate set of instruments and performers. The titular track on Badlands allows the instrumentation to set a more laid-back and expansive sound. The supporting role that the vocals take here are precisely what is needed to keep listeners’ interest high, leading into You Never Really Loved Me. You Never Really Loved Me is a track that could easily be released fifty years ago; the torch song style of the vocals meshes masterfully to the narrative qualities of the guitar arrangements.
Trampled Under Foot are one of the few bands that keep things hopping and bright throughout the entirety of their album. This means that Two Go Down, Badlands’ penultimate track, showcases a Trampled Under Foot that is miles away from their effort during Bad Bad Feeling and Dark of the Night. The band shakes up the James Brown classic It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World by stretching out the arrangement and ratcheting up the intensity to 10.
Make sure to check out Trampled Under Foot’s website for more information about the band and any dates that they may have through the end of 2013 and into 2014. Badlands is a solid bit of blues-rock, providing listeners with a number of different styles and influences before the band hangs it up.
Top Tracks: Bad Bad Feeling, Down to the River
Rating: 8.4/10
Trampled Under Foot Badlands CD Review / 2013 Concord Music Group / 13 Tracks / http://www.tufkc.com / http://www.concordmusicgroup.com
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
Beats: Independent Music, PC Gaming & Peripherals, Consumer Tech, Webmaster Tools
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